During my teenage years, my favorite band without a doubt
was the Christian ska-core-turned-rock outfit Five Iron Frenzy. After they
broke up, I put them aside for a few years, venturing instead down the rabbit
trails of blues rock, blues and psychedelic rock which ultimately and naturally
led me to Jimi Hendrix who is now my favorite musician.
The Most Important Bible Character You've Never Heard Of
Quite a few obscure characters line the pages of the Bible. There's Gomer, Ahithophel, and Orpah. And who could forget Dorcas or Methuselah?
But of all the obscure people in the scriptures, one rises to the top as an important figure. He's mentioned in Genesis, referenced by King David, and even the author of Hebrews writes about him.
But there's a good chance you've never heard of him. Or, you read those passages and moved on, not knowing what he was about or why he mattered. You probably thought he was just another Dorcas or Nimrod. I did the same thing.
A Christian of nineteen years and raised in the church, I too did not know who this man was until a few years ago when I read through the entire Bible. He is mentioned only in five chapters spread across three books, but we shouldn't be so quick to overlook this man. Who am I talking about?
Irony at a Wedding
“Husbands, love your wives,
just as Christ loved the church.” “Love never fails.”
It is almost impossible to
attend a wedding without hearing portions of Ephesians
5 or 1
Corinthians 13 read during the ceremony. And for good reason; these are
both beautiful passages that describe the boundlessness of love and wonderment
of marriage. Yet, I wonder how many sitting in the congregation, watching two
lovers commit their lives to each other, are aware of the irony of those
passages in that setting.
Fall of Solomon
As I was
writing the post entitled “The Pursuit of Wisdom” I cut out a great deal of
material that I thought was tangential to the topic and therefore only slightly
relevant. However, because the subject of that tangent had merit, I decided to
save the text and see if it materialized into something of use. When studying
the wisdom of Solomon and his subsequent “fall,” I was amazed at how someone so
wise could follow a path that led to his downfall. Where did he go wrong? Was
he corrupted by wealth? By power? What happened?
Does God Test His People? Part 2
Read Part 1: Does God Test His People?
Part 1 examined God’s testing of the Israelites in the wilderness. He used their hunger and His provision of manna as tests of obedience and faith. Some passed. Some failed. But the test came from The LORD, and God’s people had to choose whether to obey.
Fast-forward about 1500 years to the time of Christ. Just like the Israelites, Jesus was also tested in the wilderness. It is no coincidence that the story of Jesus’ temptation parallels the story of the Manna and Quail in many ways. And Jesus was obviously aware of these similarities, because He quotes a passage straight from that story when resisting the devil.
Does God Test His People? Part 1
Deuteronomy 6:16 tells us that we are not to test God. But what about the
other way around? Have you ever wondered if something you are going through is
a test from the LORD? Does God test his people?
The answer, unequivocally, is yes.
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