father ⁽¹⁸⁰⁾

Matthew 12:46–50; John 14:18–26 The passage from John would have created a rather large stir in the culture. Jesus publicly equated non-blood relations as equal to familial relations. The family was first in the culture. A good way to think of it is how a…

Genesis 18:16–33; Jeremiah 5:1–9; Romans 3:5–24 God hates me. God would/could never love me. God doesn’t care about me. No one can measure up to that standard. Any of those sound familiar? When we read stories such as Sodom and Gomorrah it is easy to…

Daniel 3:8–30; Matthew 7:15–20; Revelation 20:11–15 Thinking about fire is often not comfortable. Homes burn. Forests burn. On the other hand, metal is purified through fire. Through that fire, many beautiful and amazing things are made. Just like in our own lives, fire serves different…

Leviticus 18:6–18; Jeremiah 13:1–11; Hosea 1:1–3; Hosea 3:1–5 Sexual purity has long been a staple of Christian culture, and with good reason. Even as the culture around Christianity has changed and some Christians’ perspectives have changed about what is sexual purity, sexual purity remains important.

Matthew 14:1–23 Jesus’ cousin and herald was dead. He was murdered. Why was he murdered? He called the powerful to account. Herod’s marriage to Herodias had some issues. Herod had visited Herodias while she was still married to Herod’s brother, Philip. They decided they like…