Posts from July 2022 (Page 2)

  DISCUSSION                                                                              The book of Hosea has to be studied while understanding the religion of the Canaanites.  Israel was coming back to Palestine being inhabited for over a thousand years.  They learned farming from the people that they did not drive out of the land.  However, Canaanite farming was integrally woven with their spiritual beliefs.  El, Baal, and Dagon were very popular deities in the Canaanite religion along with the female counterparts…

  DISCUSSION                                                                              So often in life, we are looking for our purpose.  We ask questions like, “Why am I here?” or “What does God want from me?”  Imagine if you’re Hosea.  You’re God’s prophet.  You’ve seen and heard stories of so many prophets before you and the great things they’ve done.  You wonder what God’s great purpose will be for you.  Then, God tells you, “Go, and take yourself a wife of…

  DISCUSSION                                                            King Hezekiah is one of the bright spots in a list of evil people who served as king.  As he begins his rule, one of the first things he commands to be done is to carry the filth out of the Holy Place of God.  The filth he was referring to was the pagan cult objects that had been placed by his predecessors in the sanctuary of the Temple.  This was such an…

  DISCUSSION                                                               The greatest gift that we have today is the complete will of God revealed to us on the printed pages of our Bibles.  The Bible contains the greatest love story that has and will ever be told.  It tells of the love that God has with His creation; our humanity.  Yet just as all good love stories, this one has a tragedy as well.  The tragedy happened during the fall of man in…

  DISCUSSION                                                             It wasn’t that long ago that you were celebrating our countries independence with hot dogs, stews and fireworks.  As we gather every year with family, we too share in some of those same traditions.  We celebrate because we feel that the United States is the greatest country in the world and that God has blessed our…

  DISCUSSION                          In recent years there seems to have been a rise of televangelists, ministers and teachers that teach the goodness and love of God.  It is hard to argue with them about God’s goodness and love.  Yes, God has been very good to us.  Yes, God loves us so much He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for us.  However, these teachers omit a very important part of their theology of God.  Notice Paul’s…

  DISCUSSION                       The divided nation of Israel has fallen into idolatry. To pull them back, He sends them messengers to relay His will to the people. One of those messengers was Micah. He was from the town of Moresheth, a town from the kingdom of Judah.  Micah will accuse the nation of Israel and bring His judgment on all the cities that have done wickedness, specifically stealing and having corrupt prophets.  However, Micah’s message is not…

  DISCUSSION                                                                           As a product of the seventies and eighties, the phase “A New Hope” would spark images of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker into my imagination.  The evil Empire, lead by Darth Vader, had been winning the war against the Rebel forces to the point of extinction, that is until the New Hope arrived.  Luke Skywalker and his new-found Jedi powers offered a hope to the Rebel forces that…

  DISCUSSION                                                                                        Do you know what a plumb line is?  It’s a weighted string that hangs.  The weight on the end of the string allows the pull of gravity to stretch a string straight down.  It is considered to be a perfect vertical standard.  If you’re setting up a wall of a house or fence posts for a fence, a plumb line can be crucial…

  DISCUSSION                                                                                       Amos was an interesting “fella” (and yes, I use that term on purpose).  You see, he was a country boy in every aspect; he was a “herdsman of Tekoa” (Amos 1:1) and describes himself as being “no prophet”, no “son of a prophet”, but a “sheep breeder and a tender of sycamore fruit.” (Amos  7:14 )  Here was this country boy sent to the BIG…

  DISCUSSION                      “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” -Isaiah 6:8                 As a kid growing up in the seventies, I used to beg to stay up past my curfew to watch the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”.  The show was based on a high school teacher who teaches a group of misfit kids who are growing…

  DISCUSSION                                It must have been very frustrating to God, to watch His people turn their back on Him following idols.  It must have just burned Him, to see the typical Israelite come and offer up his sacrifices to the Lord.  Although the sacrifice was full of hypocrisy and sin, it still gave them a sense of accomplishment that they had done something good.  If we know anything from our readings of the Bible, we…