December 4th, 2008 by Geoff Volker
I was doing some reading in Scripture and I came across Numbers 28. This is the chapter that describes the various offerings that must be done in the nation of Israel. There are the daily offerings, the Sabbath offerings, the monthly offerings, etc. Now, to be honest I normally do not find this portion of Scripture very stimulating. I typically race through it to get to something that it is more interesting or relevant. The detailed descriptions of the various offerings that were to be done by Israelites seem not only to be tedious reading but also a tedious way to live. So… how do we make sense of this section of Scripture. It is the word of God and therefore it is profitable for us to study (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The challenge is to find out how we are to view this passage so that we can find a proper application for our lives. (more…)
April 13th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
When I was in college, I tried to memorize a whole bunch of different Bible verses. I made it most of the way through my list, but unfortunately each verse was memorized in isolation. Not to take anything away from memorizing Scripture, but in my case, the effort at the time was probably more an act of spiritual bravado than anything else. The real goal was to get through the list. One of the verses on my list was Galatians 2:20. I ended up memorizing it alright, but at the time I wasn’t really sure what Paul was saying. What did “being crucified with Christ” mean? I’d like to explore Galatians 2:17-21 and list a few thoughts I have regarding what Paul might be trying to communicate. Undoubtedly, however, many of you have far greater hermeneutical skills than I, and therefore its your job to set me straight if I’m missing something. Let me present the NIV version of the text and then give you a few thoughts: (more…)
March 8th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
If you have been a Christian for long, you have probably at least heard of the parable of the talents, which is recorded in Matthew 25:14-28 and similarly in Luke 19. I’ve heard this parable from my earliest days in Sunday School, and quite honestly, I’ve historically just chalked it up as a nice story and then moved on with my life. It really never affected me at all until I recently read a work from John Bunyan entitled The Fear of God. Bunyan’s comments sharpened the teeth of this parable for me. In fact, as a believer, his comments this parable become like one of the frightening warning passages in Hebrews. I encourage you to buy Bunyan’s book. It is worth every penny, even though the sentence structure and old English verbiage require a period of acclimation. (more…)
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