“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Once we’ve walked a path of evil-hearted foolishness, experienced the pain of God-delivered justice, come to a moment of humbly-righteous repentance, what comes next? Well, that depends. On what, you ask? It depends on to whom it is we’ve repented.
Read the rest…
“So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
There are two things worth noting about this verse. Both speak rather directly to where our culture is today. One focuses on the sin and one moves past that to life afterwards. One is a reminder that the #MeToo moment is an important reckoning for our culture to have. The other grounds us in the fact that grace is big and one person’s #MeToo moment need not define the rest of his or her life. Read the rest…
“It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
I read this verse for the first time in a long time the other day and it got my attention as it hasn’t any of the previous times I’ve read it. I honestly have struggled with it some. This is the fifth reason we are given that the nations of Canaan were left in the Promised Land. Which one are we supposed to take as true? Read the rest…
In this second-to-last installment of our series, Hard Sayings, we wrestled with the power of the cross. Just how big is the grace Jesus won for us there? It can save a normal sinner, sure, but can it save the worst of them? We’re actually faced with a harder question here: Do we want it to? Is Jesus’ offer of life to anyone fair? Keep reading to see the answer.
The Man Who Got It
Do you remember your parents ever doing something for your brother or sister that they did not do for you? What was your immediate complaint? That’s not fair! Actually, you probably said it with a bit more…emotion in your voice. That’s not faaaaaaiiiir!!! Worse yet, do you remember your brother or sister or cousin or a friend or, really, just about anyone, getting something you were convinced in your heart of hearts they didn’t deserve? What did you say then? About the same thing: “That’s not fair!” Read the rest…
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
The people of Israel were in a pretty hard spot. They had turned on the Lord. In fact, they had been turned away from the Lord for a long time. They had been turned away from the Lord for a long time and it was beginning to show. Their world was teetering on the edge. Some of them had started to realize just how dire their situation really was. They could read the international tea leaves. They saw the Assyrian army moving steadily in their direction, gobbling up nations in their path and spitting out nothing but ruin and destruction. But, instead of heeding Isaiah’s call to return to the Lord for their hope and salvation, they were running everywhere but to Him. Read the rest…
The Nexus 