Archives for June 2020

In 701 BC, the Kingdom of Judah was facing a crisis. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, was invading Judah. He had conquered other kingdoms, most recently the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and he and his forces seemed to be invincible. People were frightened. Some were suggesting that Judah make an alliance with Egypt. King Hezekiah took measures. He stopped the water that f...

The word going out these days is keep your social distance and by all means do not congregate! That's easy to say but difficult for us to do. As Christians we have a God-given desire to congregate. That's why the church is called a congregation, both in the Old and New Covenant. We congregate! The word congregate comes from the Latin wordscommeaning "together" andgregare...

To say that God is simple might sound incorrect at first. How could a sovereign, holy, and glorious being be simple? Wouldn't it be more accurate and flattering to say that God is infinitely complex? The answer we find in Scripture is that God is simple. James Dolezal explains that "the principal claim of divine simplicity is that God is not composed of parts. A part is a...

Our prayers are imperfect, yet God hears and understands them perfectly and completely. "do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day." 2 Peter 3:8 What do these statements have to do with each other? We creatures are bound, contained, and limited in time. Yet we pray to God who spoke ti...

Sheltering in place for the past few weeks has allowed us all to experience a new sense of material and personal limitations. We've seen the store shelves limited in their stock of bottled water and bread, and we have all been limited from congregating, recreating, and entertaining in the many ways that were familiar to us just weeks ago. In glaring ways, we are now seeing...

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory andthe victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and inthe earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exaltedas head above all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The breathtaking sight of created wonders such as the Grand Canyon, or the vast beauty of space, inspires profound awe. In the presence o...

This year has brought many changes in almost every area of life: economic, health, social even our own church community meetings. Stability is what gives meaning to currencies, stocks, laws, morals, customs, and cultures. The list goes on and on. The Good News is that we have One who doesn't change; who is immutable. Therefore, He gives ultimate meaning to our existence. ...

Our Triune God is independent. He does not depend on anyone or anything for his existence and continuance. You and I, as his creatures, depend on him for our existence and continuance, but he, as the uncreated Creator, is self-existent and self-sustaining. God declares in Job 41:11, "Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is...

"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7) It's what everyone's talking about. It's on everyone's mind. It's everywhere you go: the grocery store, the beach, at home, sporting events, concerts, the news; even the church is affected. All of life is engulfed by it. It seems as though it's omnipresent. But, of course, COVID-...

OLord, you havesearched me and known me! Youknow when I sit down and when I rise up; youdiscern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, OLord,you know it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-4) It seems like ages ago, but do you remember watching the news reports back in January o...

God's omnipotence is the first attribute in this devotional series that we have not learned about in Sunday school because we had to suspend our corporate gatherings due to the pandemic. "Omnipotence" is derived from Latin and means all-powerful. When used of God, it reveals the fact that God can do anything he pleases and that is consistent with his nature. This is clear...

Someday in the near future I envision us gathering again to share with one another how we made use of our time in quarantine. People all over the world will do the same. Some stories will be of joy in uncertain times and some stories will be of the fear and anxiety of the unknown. After 9/11, the collective mood in our country was a desire to feel secure again; now there s...

Many people may not think of God being blessed as an attribute. Many systematic theologies do not even speak of the blessedness of God as a divine attribute. I can argue, however, that "God is blessed" is the perfect three-word summation as to who God is. All of God's attributes unite perfectly, with the result that he has in himself an infinite eternal fullness, delight,...

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampledunder people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannotbe hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In ...

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. I...

At the beginning of 2020, we began a new series in adult Sunday school on the attributes of God. I am looking forward to this series as each week we consider an aspect of God's being and how it should affect our faith and our lives. The word "attributes," however, got me thinking about the attributes of Scripture, and since many of us have begun Bible reading plans at the ...