July 6 Most of us have never encountered a situation like this. But in Paul’s context, it was not unusual. In modern-day Turkey and throughout that part of the world at the time, many people were polytheists who worshiped many gods. As part of their worship, they would offer sacrifices to one of their gods….
June 18 I have often heard people worry about finding God’s will for their lives. Sometimes, they worry that perhaps they have missed God’s will. Unfortunately, I have found that those who worry the most are often the same ones who seem to be the least likely to go to God’s Word first. No, you…
March 12 Jesus approached Levi as he sat in the tax office and invited him to follow Him. Immediately, Levi got up and followed Jesus, perhaps leaving money on the table. So, who was Levi? The name is Hebrew. We don’t know when he changed his name, but Levi was Matthew—the disciple who wrote the…
January 16 There are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels, and sometimes it’s easy to get confused distinguishing between them. The Mary in today’s Bible reading is Mary of Bethany—the sister of Martha and Lazarus (the friend Jesus raised from the dead in John 11). This Mary is not to be confused with Mary Magdalene;…
January 2 John 2 records Jesus’ first miracle: He turned water into wine and not just cheap wine, but fine wine. This was good wine—not grape juice, but fermented, alcoholic wine and lots of it! (120 to 600 gallons, according to John 2:6) “Why would Jesus do such a thing?” someone might ask. Look at…
Peter addresses his persecuted, exiled readers (1 Peter 2:11) in today’s Bible reading and tells his readers to submit to every human authority. Some time ago I commented on the historical context around the middle of the First Century. I mentioned Nero was the Roman Emperor at the time. Under Nero’s reign, Christians were persecuted far beyond…
