By David Faust Do you ever try to negotiate with God? The Lord invites us to talk with him about all kinds of things. We can thank him for our blessings, confess our shortcomings, ask him for help, and—as numerous Old Testament passages indicate—even debate with him. But in case you haven’t noticed, God […]
By Sam E. Stone The book of Ezra is composed of two sections: chapters 1–6 record how the Jews returned from captivity to rebuild the temple; chapters 7–10 describe how Ezra came back to Jerusalem and led reforms. A period of some 57 years passed between the end of Ezra 6 (515 BC) and […]
By Dan Lentz 1. Select one group member at a time and have the rest of the group guess answers to the following questions. Once the group has guessed the answers that apply to that person, have the individual reveal the correct answers to the questions. Then move to the next group member and […]
By Christy Barritt High Black Voter Turnout Propelled Obama’s 2012 Win According to data analysis by the Associated Press, President Barrack Obama won the 2012 election in large part because of the higher than average black voter turnout. A demographer at the Brookings Institution looked at census data and election turnout, along with last […]
By Dan Lentz 1. Name a past project that seemed nearly impossible to complete but that you managed to complete because you persevered. Read Ezra 6:13-22. 2. In the midst of numerous threats the Israelites faced, what are some of the things you see that made their completion of the temple building […]
