Devotional thoughts on Zephaniah 3:9-14, 20 By Alan Dowd There’s no doubt that the book of Zephaniah is about God’s judgment, his “fierce anger” with a wayward world, his punishing and purifying “fire” for sin (Zephaniah 3:8). But Zephaniah’s contribution to Scripture is also about love, mercy, and the promise of a world made right. […]
Devotional thoughts on Zephaniah 3:1-8 By Alan Dowd Zephaniah wrote about God’s beloved city—Jerusalem—which had veered far away from its true King. What was once the holy city had become “rebellious” and “defiled.” Jerusalem, seduced by godless people, “accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her […]
Devotional thoughts on Zephaniah 1:4-6, 14-16; 2:3 By Alan Dowd It may be easy to dismiss Zephaniah’s words. After all, none of us worship Baal or Molek or go up to the roof to praise the moon and stars. But how often do we place other things—money, the world, self—ahead of the one true God? […]
By Alan Dowd To get an idea of how sex-soaked our culture is, try to look at life from the perspective of an innocent child of, say, 6 years of age. He is bombarded by suggestive, sexualized images: the magazines at the grocery store checkout, TV shows celebrating the hookup culture, the way women […]
By Alan Dowd The world will know we are Jesus’ followers not by the fish decals on our bumpers, but by the love we show for one another. Trying to be a better reflection of Jesus, I recently turned to one of the Bible’s authoritative passages on love: 1 Corinthians 13. And I found […]
