wonder ⁽³⁴⁾

Psalm 115; Exodus 28:29–38; Philippians 1:3–11 The Holy Spirit as gift can often lead us to wonder if the Israelites ever had the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts of any sort. The answer is some did and some didn’t. The Urim and Thummim were used…

Psalm 22:25–31; Amos 8:1–7; Acts 8:1b–8 For many people, singing in worship of God is a significant part of their life of faith. They love the joy-filled worship of God. The image provided in Amos takes those joy-filled songs and turns them into songs of…

Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29; Jeremiah 33:10–16; Mark 10:32–34, 46–52 When we read the word “barren” in Jeremiah, we often think it is talking about the land, in particular the environment. The barrenness is in regard to people, in particular, God’s people (and their herds). They will…

Jeremiah 31:31–34; Psalm 51:1–12; Psalm 119:9–16; Hebrews 5:5–10; John 12:20–33 In Christian circles and theology, we talk about the New Covenant. When we read about the New Covenant from Jeremiah, the honest person might question which New Covenant Jeremiah was talking about. “They will no longer need to…

Luke 18:15–17 Faith is a serious business. It’s true. From an orthodox Christian perspective, it has an eternal impact. So, it is serious. Serious, though, doesn’t mean solemn. A few years ago, I experienced a life-changing question: what is your first experience of God? I…