The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,’” Leviticus 21:1 NIV Ceremonially unclean – YHVH gives instructions for His priests. These are not instructions for everyone. These instructions detail exactly…
And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. Ruth 1:8 NASB Mother’s house – Naomi’s exhortation is not only self-serving, it is completely out of character with societal protocol. How…
Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 NASB Tutor – My friend Jerry, a devoted Catholic priest, once told me that an addiction was the way we stayed alive while God was engineering our redemption. Anesthetizing the guilt and shame…
But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Matthew 5:39 NASB Resist – “The command ‘do not resist evil’ (5:39) is not to be taken simply to refer to personal hostilities or village-level animosity. The word ‘resist’ is…
Early morning is the best.
If two sit together and words of the Law are spoken between them, the Divine Presence rests between them. Pirke Avot 3:2 Divine Presence – Does this passage from the works of the Jewish sages sound familiar? It should. Yeshua uses the same idea when he speaks about two or three gathered together. Did you…
But now the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in the Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his…
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. Romans 13:11 NASB To awaken – Today is my birthday. In just twelve more years I might be ready to lead people out of Egypt. But I…
He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Genesis 9:21-22 NASB Uncovered himself – A story within a story. What’s really happening in this cryptic account? First, the obvious. Noah naked in…
A few months ago I wrote about my dear friend, John Baldwin. You might remember what I said. After a four year battle with cancer, John died this last Sunday. Judi tells me he died at home in peace. My last conversations with John were razor sharp insights into the art of living–and dying. I…
