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For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We live in a world of things.... People value the things of this life more than they value the things of God. We often forget that the things of this world are temporal…

Preeminent Domain Last week we saw how the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus the messiah played out against the backdrop of the divine council passage in Isaiah 40 . While the episodes of John’s appearance and Jesus’ baptism are familiar, the framework provided by Isaiah is easy to miss. The supernatural…

Opening text 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.…

Rules of Engagement In Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, Hamlet says to his friend: “ There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy .” We often filter biblical content through certain presumptions and traditions Traditions are not intrinsic to the…

Seven Things That Leaders Lead - Seven Things That Believers Live Christ in us gives us the reason of use in being a testimony of a member of the body of Christ. Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to 7perfection, not laying again the foundation…

Introduction (Previous Messages in the Colossians Series) ‘For the Faithfulness of Epaphras’ - Col. 1:1-8 In that message, we looked at how because Epaphras was Faithful to serve the LORD, the gentiles there at Colosse gained: Faith in Christ Fellowship with each other A Future home in Heaven Fruit for…

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and…

Choosing Sides Baptism as Holy War But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;…

Prepare to Die The close of the Old Testament period was a dark, desperate time. By the end, the vestige of God’s portion, the family he had raised up through Abraham after forsaking the nations at Babel, consisted of only two tribes (Judah and Benjamin), collectively referred to as the kingdom of Judah.…

Mountains and Valleys Penetrating into Canaan and establishing itself as an independent state didn’t solve the problem of cosmic geography for Israel. If anything, it sharpened the conflict. Not only was Israel surrounded by hostile nations and their gods, but there were also pockets of supernatural…

Holy War We closed last week with the demise of the giant Og, last of the Rephaim (see Deut. 3: 1-11 ). Israel’s battles in the Transjordon bring us face-to-face with an issue that has troubled bible students, pastor and scholars for centuries: the practice of extermination in Israel’s war of conquest.…

God Visible and Invisible At the close of last week I noted that the “Word of YHWH” as a visible appearance of God as a man. This could lead to several questions. One of those was how a first-century Jew would have parsed the idea of Jesus being the “Word made flesh.” True, there was Old Testament precedent…

The Mount of Assembly The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean…

Foe from the North Literal Geographical North: Harbinger of Doom The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of…

Sons of God, Seed of Abraham We have spent a lot of time talking about God’s plan to reclaim the disinherited nations and restore his rule over those he disinherited. By way of review: God’s original plan was that all humankind would be his earthly family, ruling in cooperation with him and his heavenly…

A Beneficial Death By the time of the events in the regions known in the Old Testament as Bashan — Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi and the transfiguration on Mount Hermon — Jesus knew that the hour of his death was fast approaching. He had provoked a confrontation with intelligent evil in many…

Psalm 47:5–7 (ESV) 5 God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! 7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! 2 Peter 1:3–11 (ESV) 3 His divine power has granted to us all things…

Realm Distinction We’ve been tracking the story of Yahweh and his portion, Abraham’s descendents. Yahweh chose to disinherit the nations at Babel. He chose to appear to Abraham in visible, human form to initiate a covenant relationship. He chose to reiterate that covenant with Isaac and Jacob, whom he…

Morning 20 Nov 2022

Divine Transgression After the ruin of Eden, the human story heads south in a hurry. That is to be expected. The curses that followed the events in the garden bound the fate of humanity with the spiritual descendents of the Nachash, all those who oppose the rule of God either in the earthly or spiritual…

Trouble in Paradise The story of the Fall of humanity in Genesis 3 seems straightforward, perhaps because we’ve heard it told so many times. The truth is that this passage presents a lot of interpretive questions. We’ve covered some of those earlier, but now it is time to look at one of the main characters…

Eden - Like No Place on Earth God does not act without purpose. He created the Heavenly Host, intending that they carry out His will. Did He create them to meet some need in Him? No. A complete, perfect being has no deficiencies. God has no need of a council, but he uses one. Similarly, God did not need…

Morning 31st July 2022

Infiltration The day of Pentecost is an event remembered by millions of Christians each year. Although Acts 2 is one of the more familiar passages in the New Testament outside the gospels, what the passage describes as happening that day definitely sounds strange. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they…