The Ethical Imperative

And we the strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those not strong and not please ourselves.  Romans 15:1  Ought – We have been persuaded.  We are convinced.  We understand.  We realize that there is room for both Torah and grace.  We see that the two paths converge in the purposes of God.  We know…

Guarding The Gates

“Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation”  Matthew 26:41 Watch – Jesus knows that we are weak, but willing.  We want to serve and be of service, but we struggle mightily with disciplining the body.  We are often our own worst enemies, relinquishing ground to those appetites that we so enthusiastically fed…

Stinks To High Heaven

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.  Proverbs 28:9 Abomination – The Hebrew principle of measure for measure applies to a lot more than eyes and teeth.  Waltke points out that “if a man, on his part, is deaf to instruction, then God, on His…

The Real Purpose-Driven Life

Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing all these laws will say, “Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.”  Deuteronomy 4:6 Surely – The nations will be amazed.  That’s what Moses says about an obedient Israel.  “Surely,” is the Hebrew…

Two For The Money

YHWH, in Your strength the king rejoices and in Your deliverance how he rejoices greatly!   Psalm 21:1 (my translation) Rejoices – English just doesn’t cut it.  English is a language focused on things.  So, we have dozens of words to distinguish slight variables in things.  Just think about the many different words we have that…

Double Down

YHWH, in Your strength the king rejoices and in Your deliverance how he rejoices greatly!  Psalm 21:2 (Hebrew text, my translation) Strength / Deliverance – It’s Oz, but there’s no wizard.  It’s deliverance but there’s no background music.  Of course, you have to be “old” to understand these allusions.  I won’t apologize for that.  Age…

A Different Cloth

No one serving as a soldier tangles with the affairs of this life, so that he might please the one enlisting him.  2 Timothy 2:4 Tangles – You’re in the army now!  If you’re committed to following the Messiah, you made a voluntary decision to join His ranks.  That decision has some very big implications. …

An Epidemic of Loneliness

My friend, Soo-Inn Tan, from Singapore, writes a weekly post.  Today’s edition had something very important to say to all of us who understand the liberty and renewal of Jesus.  The results of the studies that he cites only tell us just how terrible it is to be one of the lost.  He says: I…

Context, Context, Context

Let a woman learn in silence, in all subjection.  But I do not allow a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence.  1 Timothy 2:11-12 A Woman – The universal law of real estate is simple:  location, location, location.  There is a comparable universal law in biblical…