Just back from El Salvador where I taught a two day seminar to many church leaders and spent valuable time with Jason Law of One Mission and Ronaldo Bueno of Enlace. We worked on community development projects in the poorest of communities. Jason’s non-profit will assist Ron with housing for these poor people. Here are…
For apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NASB Nothing – The Greek word translated “nothing” is oudeis, from ou (meaning “not”) and heis (meaning “one”). Literally it means “not one thing.” Yeshua is speaking to His disciples. He tells them that He is the vital energy of their lives (the vine). They…
And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon 1 Kings 11:14 NASB Adversary – You may find this word surprising. It is the Hebrew word satan. That’s right. Our word Satan in English is really a transliterated Hebrew word that means “adversary.” The reason we connect it to the person we call Satan is…
She answered, “You are most kind, my lord, to comfort me and to speak gently to your maidservant – though I am not so much as one of your maidservants.” Ruth 2:13 JPS Comfort/ speak gently – Ruth acknowledges Boaz’ favor with a reply that says more than the translation. She uses two constructions, naham…
But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16 I will go – “From a cultural perspective, Ruth has chosen death…
Ruth the Moabite said, “He even told me, ‘Stay close to my workers until all my harvest is finished.’” Ruth 2:21 JPS Workers – Phyllis Trible observes that Ruth must work within the culture and against the culture in order to transform the culture. This verse captures Ruth’s daring enterprise with typical Hebraic clues. Nothing…
While we were in Israel in May 2012, we had the opportunity to meet with Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel. He graciously spent a few hours with us talking about the history of Israel’s role in the world and God’s redemptive plan through Israel. We recorded these sessions for you to enjoy. You can listen to them…
to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit. 1 Peter 3:8 NASB Humble – In Greek this word is philophrones. Now you get to do a little Greek investigation yourself. You already know both parts of this word. Can you put the two parts together here and create a…
My wife, Rosanne, suggests that I explain some of the story behind Bessy’s decision not to come to North Carolina. YOU, the wonderful worldwide community of compassionate people, contributed plenty of money for the trip, but she could not get off from work for the time needed, and she could not suffer the loss of…
to sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit” 1 Peter 3:8 NASB Kind-hearted – eusplanchnoi in Greek. Wow! Don’t even try to say this word. The prefix eu means “well” or “good” (you remember eulogize?). But “good” what? The second part of the word (splanchnon) means “intestine” or in…
