In Judges 7, Gideon gathers his troops near the spring of Harod to face the Midianites. However, God instructs him…
In Judges 1, we pick up on the journey after Joshua's death. Verse 1 states that the Israelites sought guidance…
Joshua 21 - This statement of God's promises is such an encouragement. Let's take a look back and review some…
Joshua 9 - The Gibeonites, fearing Israel's conquests, deceive Joshua and the Israelites by pretending to be from a distant…
Acts 26 - In this chapter, Paul gives his most exhaustive and evangelistic appeal to Agrippa II. If you remember,…
Acts 21 - This was a tough chapter for me. We read that the voice of the Holy Spirit is…
Acts 15 - The first question we want to know is, who was right and who was wrong between Paul…
Acts 12 - King Herod never saw it coming. The grandson of the infamous Herod the Great was part of…
Acts 11 - Unfortunately, the attitude that Peter experiences here in Acts 11 is all too common in our church…
Acts 10 - Many people like to ask the question, can you be saved if you are a genuine seeker…
Acts 9 - Saul We are reminded here in chapter 9 that even the most rebellious and hard-hearted people can…
Acts 5 - The early church faced persecution from both the Pharisees and the Sadducees. After hearing the testimony of…
Acts 4 - As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and…
Acts 3 - The miraculous signs and wonders led to opportunities to authenticate the message of the Gospel. Peter did…
Lamentations 3 - The first 20 verses of Lamentations 3 recall the conditions that God has allowed to take place…
Leviticus 11 - In Leviticus 11, God outlines both the clean and unclean animals. A general rule which was given…
Leviticus 10 - By the end of Leviticus 9, everything seems to be going great... until we turn the page…
Leviticus 1 - The book of Leviticus picks up right where Exodus left off. The opening verse begins with "Then…
Revelation 22 - Tree of Life The final chapter of the Bible bookends the story that God started in the…
Revelation 21 - There is a lot of crossover between what Isaiah writes in chapter 65 and the 21st chapter…
Revelation 20 - If someone comes up and asks you, "How do you interpret Revelation?" most likely, they are referring…
Revelation 17 - We have already reiterated it over many chapters, but Rome stood proudly as a pagan symbol against…
Revelation 11 - I think a major issue with Revelation 11 is the fact that it relies heavily on Revelation…
Revelation 9 - The 5th Trumpet The 5th trumpet releases a key to open the abyss. Many scholars believe this…
Revelation 6 - I grew up in Berne, Indiana which sits directly on top of the continental divide. If you…
Revelation 2 - Although these letters are addressed to specific congregations in the first century, I believe they are representative…
Revelation 1 - The comparison game. We all do it. When life throws us unpredictable storms, (and especially when we…
1 Chronicles 28 - Loyalty of heart. I once had a pastor give me advice on how to preach a…
Isaiah 62 - *If you haven't read the Isaiah 61 blog entry, it would be helpful for context. Isaiah 62…
Isaiah 61 - Isaiah 61 is such an interesting chapter. In Luke 4, Jesus reads the first two verses of…
Isaiah 37 - Much of what Isaiah has written leading up to this point has been about the rebellion of…
Isaiah 26 - Disease. Affliction. Poverty. The kingdom of man wrestles with the birth pains of this world. The city…
Isaiah 25 - Following a chapter on the destruction and judgment of God, we read a deeply personal appeal to…
Ephesians 1 - The readers of this letter in Paul's day would have received a rolled up scroll that required…
Galatians 2 - As we read in Chapter 1 of Galatians, Paul's message that he was delivering to the Gentiles…
Galatians 1 - Just like we see today in the political sphere, Paul was battling against two extreme views within…
1 Thessalonians 5 - I want to follow up on what I wrote yesterday from 1 Thessalonians 4 with some…
Jude 1 - Jude was one of four half-brothers of Jesus. In the Greek, the name Jude was synonymous with…
3 John 1 - Gaius was the Greek way of writing the Roman name Caius. Believe it or not, there…
1 John 5 - At the time of this writing, John was battling the incredible deception that had come against…
Job 32 - Elihu may have been younger, but he had the genealogy going for him. But the anger of…
Job 19 - The most magnificent phrase in this chapter shines in verses 25-26. It is so surprising and unexpected.…
Job 1 - The entire book of Job explores tough themes and deep theological questions. Namely, it seeks to answer…
Matthew 28 - The appearances of the resurrected Christ are astonishing! Many people will concede that Jesus was a real…
Matthew 17 - The half-shekel tax was equivalent to about 2 days of wages. It was collected annually from every…
Matthew 12 - This chapter contains the controversial "unpardonable sin" which involves blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The first question…
Matthew 11 - Yet another piece of evidence that confirms Jesus was indeed the Messiah is the presence of John…
Matthew 10 - Jesus' selections were complete. Among his disciples were some strange picks by human standards. Among those chosen…
Matthew 7 - Judge not so you will not be judged. What was Jesus getting at here? This is a…
Matthew 4 - "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."…
Proverbs 17 - As I read this chapter, I see a theme of relational conflict. "Better a dry crust with…
2 Peter 3 - Peter was writing, at the time, against the theory of uniformitarianism. It states that the processes…
2 Peter 2 - 2 Peter 2 opens by describing two different kinds of false people within the church. Maybe…
2 Peter 1 - Peter was a bond-servant and apostle. This is a unique combination, being subject to all others…
1 Peter 5 - Peter is following up on his previous chapter on suffering. It's no surprise that in order…
1 Peter 4 - Arm yourself! This is a powerful opening in 1 Peter 4. Our thought process regarding suffering…
1 Peter 3 - It's in this chapter that Peter makes a strange statement about Jesus going to hell after…
1 Peter 2 - Peter opens with the process of transformation. The true progression of spiritual growth is measured by…
1 Peter 1 - It is beneficial to explore the interesting background on the book of Peter. First, many scholars…
2 Samuel 24 - This account of a census is a puzzling chapter. We wonder today, what could be wrong…
2 Samuel 23 - David was never ashamed of who he was and where he came from. In a culture…
Romans 1 - John Calvin said of Romans, "When anyone understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him…
2 Kings 19 - For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And…
Genesis 19 - I find it interesting that there were two angels sent to Lot's house to save four people.…
Genesis 6 - What does the text mean when it says the "sons of God" saw the "daughters of men"…
James 1 - There are so many believers I talk with who tell me that their favorite book is James.…
John 21 - Even after His resurrection, Jesus was still teaching His disciples. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you…
John 20 - The empty tomb (Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 24) is the most contested event by skeptics of…
John 13 - John would have known the story well. He (the disciple whom Jesus loved) was reclining against Jesus…
John 5 - Bearing witness to yourself is not reliable in court. Jesus didn't need to provide witnesses for His…
Hebrews 12 - Dear Weary Christ-Follower, Read Hebrews 12:3-17 Which is worse, the weight of sin or the discipline of…
Nahum 3 - God has declared the condition of Nineveh unrepairable. They have gone too far. There is no chance…
Micah 7 - Consider the similarities of Micah's world and our world today... There is undesirable fruit all around Everyone…
Joel 1 - The book of Joel centers around The Day of the Lord. Here is a brief synopsis of…
Daniel 9 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for…
2 Corinthians 7 - "If one gives up easily, they can never walk in repentance, though they may perform acts…
2 Corinthians 4 - Why jars of clay? "The Greek word means "baked clay," and refers to clay pots. They…
1 Corinthians 15 - 1 Corinthians 15 is a critical chapter that supports the evidence of Jesus Christ as well…
Psalm 114 - Persecution. Power. Provision. This is the pattern of Psalm 114. Note that none of these are within…
Psalm 94 - O LORD, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O Judge of the…
Psalm 88 - Psalm 88 will most likely not be made into a children's song one day. It's too raw.…
Psalm 86 - We are all familiar with the tumultuous relationship between joy and sorrow. In Psalm 86, David moves…
Psalm 57 - My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Psalms…
Psalm 50 - What does our praise look like when we face trouble and adversity? Or, do we praise at…
Psalm 26 - The key to Psalm 26, as Hank has written, is the second verse. If you read through…
Psalm 23 - Psalm 23 is known as the shepherd's psalm. Composed by David as a youth, he was keeping…
Psalm 22 - "I know not whether any Psalm throughout the whole book contains matter more weighty, or from which…
Psalm 21 - There is a theme of kingship within this psalm. It's likely it was originally composed for recital…
Psalm 13 - This psalm is general enough to speak to anyone going through a crisis but specific enough to…
Psalm 2 - This royal psalm was a familiar one, as it was recited often by God's followers. We read…
Mark 13 - No one knows the day or hour. This is a familiar passage, yet, there is one question…
Mark 9 - We all know the greatest commandment according to Jesus. Here's a refresher... "Love the Lord your God…
Mark 8 - A fascinating quality of Jesus' teaching style was the way in which the geographic location often added…
Mark 6 - Have you ever sat down and read Scripture and thought, "I don’t know if I’ll ever be…
Mark 3 - The healings of Jesus are well-documented and factual. Interestingly, the Jews did not dispute the healing power…
Mark 1 - It's fascinating to identify the different writing styles of the Gospel authors. Matthew began with genealogy. His…
Deuteronomy 31 - “But was his momentary failure not far too severely punished?" Alexander MacLaren We tend to look at…
Numbers 33 - At the end of this chapter, there are six verses that give the Israelites specific instructions on…
Numbers 31 - Although the lesson of this chapter is overshadowed by the war, there are some very miraculous accomplishments.…
Numbers 19 - It's a tricky task to explain the uncleanliness laws in our modern context. On one hand, being…