Isaiah 59 – Sin is offensive. There, I said it. We are so good at relegating our sins to the back burner of thought. We insanely justify behavior that…
culture
109 posts
Isaiah 23 – To the north of Israel lay the port city of Tyre. Of the ancient world, it was one of the most famous. Known as the Babylon…
Isaiah 21 – A shared truth sticks out over the past few chapters of Isaiah. All the main players surrounding Judah (Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and Ethiopia) are under…
Isaiah 20 – Many years ago while in Cyprus a friend of mine told a story how God asked him to do something which seemed illogical. He was back…
Isaiah 6 – It was a life changing vision. An encounter with the Holy God that changed the complete trajectory of Isaiah’s life. The vision revealed the greatness…
Colossians 4 – “Devote yourselves in prayer, being watchful and thankful.” “Epaphras… he is always wrestling in prayer for you…” Prayer is an essential aspect of our spiritual life….
Colossians 1 – There is reason to believe Paul never visited the church in Colossi. It was a church more than likely founded by his friend Epaphras and other…
Philippians 3 – I had a friend who used to say, “If you’re green, you’ll grow. If you’re ripe, you’ll rot.” I am sometimes baffled by a lack of…
Ephesians 5 – There is a subtle downward slope that can happen to any Believer who is not standing firm and working on their relationship with Jesus daily. It…
Galatians 6 – As Paul winds down his letter he makes tremendous statements that could be dissected and applied very easily. He is incredibly practical and encouraging while writes…
Exodus 23 – Exodus 23:1 NASB “You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness….
Exodus 22 – Upon reading these laws set by God it would seem or appear they’re pretty stringent or picky. That is simply not the case as…
Exodus 21 – Everything we do has consequences. Everything. Whether good or bad, our decisions cause ripple effects of something else. We move into various laws given…
Exodus 18 – Jethro was not an Israelite. Making a sudden reappearance in the story, the timing was everything. As he was not of the Jewish race,…
Exodus 10 – The continued hardening of Pharaoh’s heart had also blinded him to the living God. Destruction beyond what was even imagined had come in waves. …
Exodus 7 – The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was something God had reminded Moses of time and time again…
Exodus 4 – Sometimes God calls us back to the very places we have fled or even were delivered from. Now, hear me out on this. We…
Judges 19 – In a horrifying scene of events, we get a picture for just how bad it has gotten within Israel. It would not be as surprising to…
Judges 10 – There’s a phrase used describing a long journey or long period of time. Sometimes people say, “I’m in this for the long haul”. To me, there…
Judges 4 – Oh the cycle continues. The people were blessed and delivered, their hearts grew cold to God. They did evil in His sight; they endured oppression. God…
2 Thessalonians 1 – Tone and text are sometimes hard to differentiate. We receive a text or email that comes across saying one thing and we read…
3 John 1 – Paul calls it a gift. Hospitality is right up there as one of the giftsthe Spirit gives out to Believer’s. EveryFollower has at…
2 John 1 – 2 words – spoken often and used quite a bit in today’s age but seldom practiced: Truth and Love. Almost like an endangered species,…
Ezra 9 – After a 4 month, dangerous journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, Ezra arrived to find things not as he had thought. A culture of compromise within his own…
Ezra 7 – There is a gap of 60 some years between chapter 6 and 7. It was during these 60 that the wonderful story of Esther took place…
Joshua 24 – The book of Joshua opens with a new leader filling Moses’ role and facing an impossible task. The book ends with that task completed as Joshua’s…
Joshua 20 – God had preplanned many things and instructed Moses as to how the government of this new nation of Israel should function. One of these was the…
Matthew 22 – I remember after The Warehouse had been established for about 3 years I was struggling with a few things concerning the church. Although not…
Matthew 20 – We often live in the mindset – people get what they deserve. We think about this when it comes to the laws of the…
Matthew 17 – It’s known as the Transfiguration. Jesus took his closest friends with Him to the mountain and what took place was more than astounding. The…
Proverbs 25 – It’s one of the Fruit of the Spirit. Self-Control is something all wrestle with and without it we can find ourselves in mess after mess, standing…
2 Peter 1 – A few times a month (maybe it’s more) at noon the air is pierced with sirens. They reverberate throughout the town almost sinking…
2 Samuel 23 – When we think of a Last Will and Testament being read it is usually after the passing of someone. Family members gather to…
2 Samuel 20 – Loyalty – it’s showing faithfulness to our commitments, vows or an allegiance to someone or a cause. The political scene is difficult..
2 Samuel 9 – He lived in fear. Hidden from the public, he attempted to be a forgotten prince. A remaining son of Jonathan, his life would…
2 Timothy 1 – This second letter to Timothy was written 2 years after the first about 66 or 67 AD. Paul had been released from prison…
1 Timothy 6 – Sometimes we get it backward. We forget that everything we accumulate, everything we strive to have, we can’t take with us in the…
1 Timothy 1 – Timothy became as a son to Paul. His mother and grandmother were Jewish believers who shaped his life as a young man…
Romans 14 – “Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say…
Romans 1 – Paul had never been to Rome; neither had the church leaders of Jerusalem. It’s widely believed the church was started from people who were in…
2 Kings 22 – “Revival and spiritual awakening are marked by expressions of the conviction of sin.” -David Guzik As we’ve read the countless stories of the…
1 Kings 20 – So far there have been two evil kings and two good kings. The southern kingdom, Judah, still wavers between righteous and…
1 Kings 16 – He would reign for 41 years. 41 years of sheer evil would be doled out to the people of Israel as they themselves…
1 Kings 13 – It is the strangest of stories. A nameless prophet is sent to speak against the false worship King Jeroboam has established…
1 Kings 4 – Have you ever worked for or been part of a committee that was not well organized? More than likely yes and you know…
Genesis 38 – The story of Judah and Tamar peel back the cultural life in ancient times. By no means is it a good story on the moral front…
Genesis 29 – God is forging Jacob’s character. Arriving in the land of his relatives, he not only finds them but falls in love. The convoluted…
Genesis 13 – Abraham’s nephew Lot was a character. While a young man his father died. Although he had strong role models of his grandfather…
James 1 – Talk is cheap. Inundated with promises everywhere we look from commercials to presidential candidates it’s easy to make or hear…
Nehemiah 13 – As the saying goes, “While the cats away…” The book of Nehemiah ends with quite a flurry of activity that is not only surprising…
Nehemiah 7 – “Then I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they are standing guard, let…
Nahum 3 – The proud Nineveh is ripe for judgment here as the final chapter of Nahum speaks toward the demise and sins of this…
Amos 5 – In a move that would be shocking to the listeners, Amos sings a song of lament, a dirge of Israel who is fallen. The irony is…
Amos 2 – Chapters 1 and 2 proclaim God’s judgment proclaimed against the enemies of Israel. As the hearers of these prophecies, the people probably rejoiced that God was…
Hosea 5 – Sometimes there’s nothing more to say when we pray for someone so lost in their ways. Sometimes they need to be completely turned over to God…
Daniel 7 – The first 6 chapters of Daniel were historical in nature and inspiring as Daniel was one man who stood firm in times of persecution. His unwavering…
Daniel 6 – Daniel was a man of consistency. Here was a man who was in exile who never wavered in his faith or trust. The seasons changed continually…
Daniel 4 – Written by Nebuchadnezzar himself, this chapter is the retelling of his testimony. Daniel included the penmanship of the king in his writings because it shows the…
2 Corinthians 11 – Paul charges his attack against the false teachers who were swaying minds left and right within the church. Through smooth talk and engaging…
1 Corinthians 11 – “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 What a challenge. Follow my example in how I…
1 Corinthians 9 – You peel back more of the underlying issues of the Corinthian Believers and Paul’s defense here and realize he had his hands full….
1 Corinthians 8 – “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” – 1 Corinthians 8:9 Knowledge…
1 Corinthians 6 – “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord…
1 Corinthians 2 – When we think of Paul consider the fact he was a brilliant scholar and teacher. He had been trained in the Scriptures, learned…
1 Corinthians 1 – Corinth was a major cosmopolitan hub in Achaia. A seaport and major trade center, it buzzed with people coming and going and life…
Psalm 137 – Psalm 137 – It’s a striking scene. Gathered on the shores of one of Babylon’s rivers the people remembered what they had lost. Held in captivity due to their…
Psalm 128 – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 There are many thoughts about leadership out there. When a leader leads…
Psalm 94 – The act of discipline is of love. In today’s culture, this thought has taken a backseat. Many parents love their children deeply but do not discipline. …
Psalm 69 – The favor of God is something we all should seek. One of the best definitions of this is a demonstrated delight. Simply consider what that means. …
Psalm 52 – We’ve all encountered it. A situation or a person seemingly gets away with murder. In fact, this is what David wrestles through as he revisits the…
Psalm 24 – It speaks toward the greatness of God. Everything in creation is His. No man can stand before the eternal Creator on his own. Psalm 24 is…
Psalm 22 – It’s one of the most heartfelt, gut wrenching prayers of David. “Why have you forsaken me?” he asks. Whatever the great trial he was enduring at…
Psalm 11 – There are two different instances in David’s life where he was on the run. He was hunted by King Saul and later he went on the…
Mark 5 – A Roman legion consisted of up to 6000 men. The man brought fear to the town. More than likely they avoided the tomb area for more…
Mark 3 – As the quote goes, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” But this is not only the case in such an arena. The meaning goes toward unlikely companions who…
Mark 1 – A man running naked… a deserter… eventually, a pastor… who was this man?
Deuteronomy 22 – “Finders keepers, losers weepers” or so the childhood rhyme goes. In so many ways, God’s laws were practical. His purpose was for His people to exercise…
Deuteronomy 19 – God established a remarkable thing for the people of Israel. In all of His plans for the future, He knew the hearts of humankind, the wickedness…
Deuteronomy 18 – God gave the responsibilities of the Priests and instructed the Israelites of how to take care of the Priests…
Numbers 32 – Numbers 32 – Perhaps he jumped to conclusions. I mean we all do this don’t we? We hear a bit of information without the full story and make an…
Numbers 27 – It’s known as one of the most beautiful and comforting hymns of all time. Written by Joseph Scriven in 1855 he was inundated with tragedy. As…
Numbers 2 – God was up to some organization. The people had been on their journey now for a year. God was putting things in order. Where they went…
Luke 23 – There was no doubt He was innocent. 3 different times he declared this and 3 different times the Jewish people rose up screaming for His death….
Luke 14 – There are prophecies in the Old Testament of a feast that will come at the end of the age – the Messiah’s Banquet. I have always…
Luke 11 – The man was desperate. An unexpected friend had stopped on his journey for a place to sleep. In ancient times hospitality was a given. Being after…
Luke 9 – It’s called the comfort zone. We all have one and if we’re honest live within its confines as much as possible. It’s the place where we…
Song of Solomon 7 – It’s a chapter that would cause one to blush. In intimate detail, Solomon describes his wife. This is the third time he has done…
Ezekiel 16 – It is a shocking allegory. In some of the most bold and at times offensive images God paints through His words of Jerusalem, the story is…
Ezekiel 11 – God knows everything. From our private thoughts to our conversations to our plans made, He is fully aware. The thought should be unsettling. It is. The…
Ezekiel 6 – “I will stretch out my hand upon them… Then they will know that I am the Lord.” This is that moment. A moment almost like a…
Ezekiel 5 – The Law was clear: “You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.” – Leviticus 19:27 “They shall…
Acts 11 – The movement of God often requires adjustment not only physically but within our own mindsets and behavior. Much easier said than done, when God…
Acts 4 – What is God asking of you? What is He personally calling you to do? Where is He working and asking you to join? Depending…
Acts 2 – “We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives…
Lamentations 1 – He’s known as the weeping prophet. For 40 years Jeremiah served God faithfully with little to no success. By the world’s standards, he was a failure…
Leviticus 19 – “One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord…
Leviticus 11 – At first glance, the listing of unclean and clean animals of which God spoke about seems to us a bit much. Certainly, there are animals on…
Leviticus 7 – In the late 70’s Henry Smith wrote a simple song that took off in the 80’s. Give Thanks was simple but profound in they lyrics that…