General
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He is Risen! What’s next?
Yesterday we celebrated Easter. After last year’s online service, I was incredibly grateful to celebrate in person with my church family. Our church has a tradition of singing the Hallelujah Chorus on Easter, and anyone in the congregation who wants to sing along comes up and sings with the choir and orchestra. With COVID (how many times in the last year have you started a sentence with, “With COVID…” I’m so done.) they did things a little differently. We still had the orchestra, but no one came up front. The orchestra played along with the socially distanced video they did last year. The first frame of the video was…
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Our Covenant Keeping God
I’ve been wrestling with the period before the Babylonian exile and the destruction of Jerusalem for years now, trying to get my head around God’s longsuffering love and His people’s rejection of Him to follow after all sorts of false gods. Besides the fact that He is the one true God, He’s just so much better than any of them. Why did they so foolishly chase after idols? Many in Judah were worshipping Molech, Ba’al, Asherah, and the gods of Egypt. What was the appeal? Were they just trying to cover all their bases? I think pride was a big part of it. It’s so human to want to think…
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What can we learn from an ancient toilet?
Two weeks ago, I wrote about God loosing the loins of kings. Today, I’m captivated by a 2,500 year old toilet. What’s so interesting about a stone potty? Videos like this make me wish I’d been an archeologist. Weeds Raw meat Tapeworms Why am I excited about 2,500 year old weeds and raw meat? This discovery dates to the first temple period when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. The analysis of the dirt below the toilet confirms II Kings 25:3. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.…
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Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe
Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam I’ve been to enough Seder dinners to know that lots of traditional Jewish prayers start with this sentence. So in my book, I wanted to include it. Now I don’t know that Daniel’s mom started her Shabbat prayer with these words exactly when she lighted the Sabbath candles, but I think it’s a safe assumption that she said something like that. I got to thinking about the English translation – specifically “universe.” Nowhere in the NASB do we have the word universe. It doesn’t sound like a Bible word, does it? If Daniel said, “Baruch atah adonai elohaynu melech ha’olam,” what…
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Loosing the Loins of Kings
I have so many good memories associated with the kids’ Daniel Bible study. Chapter 5 really captivated them – especially in light of Isaiah’s prophecy about Cyrus. It is I who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.” And he declares of Jerusalem, “She will be built,” And of the temple, “Your foundation will be laid.” Thus says Yahweh to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And I will loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: “I will go before you…
