The ancient Greeks believed their gods were completely devoid of feeling and emotion. The gods, they thought, were so far above humanity they could not feel sorrow, pain, or grief.
Imagine a Greek who was alive in the first century and managed to read John chapter 11. In this text the son of God is overcome with feelings of sadness and grief at the death of his friend, Lazarus. Jesus was overcome with a wide array of emotions. Continue reading “A God that feels”
The world started with God. He spoke, and it came into existence. God existed before all else. He is not created. He created all things.
Human beings started with God. Before the world was created, God planned to make man. In fact, everything else was created for man’s benefit.
Salvation started with God. He gave free will to man, so that the choice to love and serve God would be a real one. But man rejected God. God was not content to leave it at that. He had decided to bring man back to himself. Continue reading “Start with God”
God loves numbers. He counts the number of hairs on each human head. In fact, he likes numbers so much, he makes things uncountable by human means. The stars cannot be numbered. And who can count the grains of sand in the sea or all the drops in the oceans of the world?
But God knows. “He counts the number of the stars; he names all of them” Psalm 147.4. So he not only counts them, but names them all. Continue reading “God loves numbers”
I love being a father.
If every bit of progress of my children isn’t imprinted on film or memory card, it is in my mind as fresh as the day it happened. Those memories include when each of our three children walked, when they learned to ride a bicycle, and graduated from college. Sure, there have been trials and difficulties but the joys outweigh them all.
Each child has repeatedly assured us of their love for their mother and me. I know their love is genuine because they show it often. Continue reading “Being a father”
In the life of his saints, problems large and small do not go unnoticed by the Lord. Continue reading When your car quits in front of the tow truck
Words and meanings are important. Dictionaries and texts to teach language exist for this purpose. Socrates supposedly said, “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.” Every speaker, even politicians, learn that effective communication means one must understand words.
What is the definition of peace? Continue reading “What is peace?”
It’s time to look for my magnifying glass again.
Someone keeps taking my magnifying glass from my desk because she needs to see something small up close. Magnifying glasses come in handy when we need to enlarge something so details can be seen.
The mother of Jesus placed the Lord under a glass in a passage called “the Magnificat.” In her praise of God in Luke 1:46-56, she zoomed in on the greatness of God so others could see him.
Let’s take a close-up look of God through Mary’s magnifying glass. Each statement begins with the personal pronoun, “he.” Continue reading “Under the magnifying glass”
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them, “When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.”’” (Numbers 35:9-13 NET).
God is a God of mercy. We can see this in his providing towns of refuge for the Israelites. These towns were so designated to allow someone who had accidentally killed another person to be safe from any ‘avenger’ who might come after them to take their life. If they were within these towns they were safe. In more recent years church buildings have often served this same purpose as a place of sanctuary. Continue reading “A God of mercy and justice”
If society, culture and the church could just move past feeling fear, anger and pain, we would all be better off, right? If everybody could only be positive and happy all of the time, our lives would improve, correct? Wrong! If these negative emotions and sensations were eliminated, our lives would unravel.
If you object to that last sentence, I’m sure you are not alone. So let’s cut to the chase.
The holy prophets ridiculed idolators by noting all the things their idols could not do. They couldn’t even perform the basic actions of normal people, much less work godlike wonders. They had to be carried, because they couldn’t walk for themselves.
The true God walks. For the most part, walking is a metaphor for that continuing, deepening relationship that man can have with God. The Lord is a spirit, Jn 4.24, so he has no body and no legs with which to walk. The Bible uses figurative language for God’s actions, so we can better understand his nature and his will. But when God takes human form, he literally walks with and among mankind. Continue reading “The God who walks”