I have read the New International Version of the Bible for many years, but for a change of pace, recently I have incorporated the King James Version into my personal devotions. The King James’ phrasing often has a familiar ring to it, like “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name” (Matthew 6:9), […]
Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. What offenses against you do you find easy to forgive? What offenses do you find difficult to forgive, or even unforgiveable? 2. In the New Testament, two different Greek words are translated forgivein English. One literally means “to write off or dismiss” and […]
Sometimes God is just off-the-charts good—like in his creation of the world (Genesis 1:31), in blessing the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45), in his plan to save Jew and Gentile (Romans 11:33-36), in supplying all our needs (Philippians 4:19), and in giving us everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). No wonder […]
The English author Lynne Truss wrote a clever book about punctuation called Eats, Shoots & Leaves. The book’s title comes from the grammatical misstep of a student who wrote an essay about pandas and tried to explain their plant-based diet. These creatures, the writer meant to explain, “eats shoots and leaves.” Unfortunately, the student inserted […]
The website for futurologist Leonard Sweet is called “Preach the Story.” The thesis of the website is that in all the little stories of the Bible there is the embedded big story of God’s plan to rescue the world through Jesus. That is very much in evidence in our text today where Judah’s speech to […]
