“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you died I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This beautiful expression of faithfulness is often read in the context of a wedding ceremony. And, given the words Ruth uses here, this is not an inappropriate use of them. But, let’s consider for a moment just how amazing they really are and perhaps the wonder of such moments will only increase. Read the rest…
“But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. This is for several reasons which unfold over the course of its telling. It takes place during the same time period as Judges. And, in the beginning, it figures to be about as dark as its companion narrative. Read the rest…
In part three of our series, Hard Sayings, we look at Jesus’ hard assurance that if we stick with Him, the world is going to hate us. This isn’t an easy truth to hear, but millions of Jesus followers around the world and in our own backyards can attest to the fact that it is true nonetheless. Keep reading as we talk about why and what we can do about it.
Misplaced Anger
Have you ever held up someone as a hero only to have them fail you? I’ve talked before about my being a Kansas basketball fan. When I was growing up, Roy Williams was KU’s coach. I idolized Roy Williams. When I played basketball in grade school, I was convinced that I was going to play for Coach Roy someday. I wrote him a letter to tell him about it and he sent back an autographed picture of the whole team. I got to go to several KU games and watched with keen interest as Roy led team after team to victory. Read the rest…
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
This, at last, is the theme of the book and its final assessment. The people of Israel had fallen to a place where everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. When a culture reaches this point, anything goes and most of it isn’t good. We each became gods unto ourselves and everything becomes a holy crusade as we try to establish our divine fiefdoms at the expense of those around us. In the end, no one wins. Read the rest…
In this second part of our series, Hard Sayings, we looked a bit more closely at the hard saying from last week that following Jesus is hard. Here we have reaffirmed for us the difficulty of remaining faithful over the long haul, but we also get a bit of a reprieve: The rewards are pretty good as well. Keep reading to see how this unfolds.
A Difficult Journey
When was the last time you did something that was hard, but which left you feeling like you’d done something worthwhile? That’s a really good feeling, isn’t it? You work hard, make some sacrifices even, and come out on top. Like you, I’ve done this kind of thing a few times, but probably the thing that stands out the most to me was learning to play the drums. I started when I was in seventh grade. I had played the trumpet in sixth grade, but then I got braces. Braces and the trumpet do not play well together. Drums didn’t hurt. I started taking lessons almost immediately from a teacher in my neighborhood. That teacher moved. I found another one. I didn’t like him at all. Found a third teacher who was great and stuck with him all the way through high school and into college. And I practiced. Much to my parents’…and probably the neighbors’ too…chagrin, I practice a lot. Then I got to college. I took more lessons and played with the percussion ensemble. In fact, I played a lot, not only with the various university ensembles, but I also started playing with different bands including getting to tour and cut a cd with a rock band of some friends when their previous drummer quit. Read the rest…
The Nexus 