grace ⁽¹⁹⁷⁾

Isaiah 6:1–8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12–17; John 3:1–17 In the current age, the concept of the Trinity has been attempted to be explained by books such as “The Shack” (which acknowledges itself as an allegory and not as doctrine, a key response to those who…

Psalm 104:24–34; Ezekiel 37:1–14; John 15:26–27; John 16:4b–15; Acts 2:1–21 The Christian music artist Mandisa has a song, “Overcomer”. It’s a pretty simple song (and catchy, of course). It talks about “you” (the listener) being an overcomer by the grace and power of God. It’s…

Psalm 33:12–22; Genesis 2:4b–7; 1 Corinthians 15:42–49 It is doubtful that many (if any) people think humanity has it all together. There is the cynical quip that the greatest proof of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven’t contacted us. Regardless of your…

Psalm 115; Ezra 9:5–15; John 16:16–24 Collective guilt has been on the top of many lists in the last year. Regardless of your political, philosophical, or religious perspective of the collective guilt issues, it does allow us to better understand the pressure that Ezra felt…somewhat.

Psalm 47; Exodus 24:15–18; Revelation 1:9–18 Holy scriptures have always been important. Note that the “s” wasn’t capitalized. This isn’t just the Holy Scriptures we define as the Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testament). This could include many things. The Apocrypha,…