Staying Buried

In Genesis 34, Leah’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by Hivite Prince Shechem.  Infatuated, Shechem bargains with Jacob and his sons to make Dinah Shechem’s wife.  Jacob’s sons tell Shechem he can’t have Dinah unless he and their men are circumcised.  The Hivites agree. They will benefit by mingling with the Hebrews: flocks and possessions will…

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This Is the Day…

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24). The verse above is famous.  I can’t count (even on my fingers and toes) how many times I’ve heard it quoted.  Most of us have heard the popular song as well (complete with echo: “This is the day, This…

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The Back of Love’s Hand

Last night, my wife had dinner out with a friend.  I looked forward to spending the evening with my kids, doing something fun.  But one of my kids had a major behavioral malfunction. I had to discipline him.  It was the very opposite of fun.  Since then, I’ve been thinking about Hebrews 12:6, “the Lord…

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Yeats and Modern Angst

Painting: “Nebuchadnezzar” by William Blake   “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are…

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Seeker-Sensitive or Seeking to Save?

Recently, a friend sent me an article which criticized a high profile church.  Some of the church’s current and former members are celebrities.  The former celebrity members were interviewed in this bit of “investigative journalism.” (I use quotes because this was for some online rag.  Not exactly Woodward and Bernstein). Those interviewed complained that the…

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Struggling and Prevailing (Part 2)

Please read part one before continuing… Jacob named the place he wrestled with God, “Face of God,” adding that he saw God’s face and was delivered (Gen. 32:30).  In a sense, seeing God’s face and dislocating his hip were of a piece.  Said another way, Jacob’s hip was dislocated because he saw God’s face. We…

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Struggling and Prevailing (Part 1)

In fear of meeting his brother, Esau, Jacob sent his family away.  That night, alone, he wrestled with a man until daybreak (Gen. 32:24-32).  The man touched Jacob’s thigh at the hip and put it out of joint.  He told Jacob to release him but Jacob refused, saying he wanted a blessing.  The man told…

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The Person of the Tree of Life

A friend of mine, Cameron Fultz, has been translating the book of Revelation.  A month or more ago, he read his translation of Revelation four to a group of friends.  What follows are verses two and three of chapter four.  I had never before considered John’s vision in the light of Cameron’s translation.  It is,…

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Two-Faced

Recently, I watched a documentary about young-earth creationism.  For the uninitiated, young-earth creationists believe a literal reading of Genesis: creation took six days, and the earth is less than 10,000 years old.  This is worlds apart from the common belief that life today resulted from billions of years of natural processes. I am far from…

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Grace Areas

Something the Lord said to me while I was praying the other day: Things aren’t black and white.  There aren’t gray areas.  But there are grace areas. Food for thought!