Bible Study – Apprentice 2 Jesus

The vision of things to come

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Rev. 21:22-23))

The longing to see him

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will beContinue reading “The longing to see him”

Holy Scripture — a beautiful description by NT Wright

“Perhaps, indeed, that is what “holy scripture” really is — not a calm, serene list of truths to be learned or commands to be obeyed, but a jagged book that forces you to grow up in your thinking as you grapple with it.” — NT Wright, Paul: A Biography My life has been one ofContinue reading “Holy Scripture — a beautiful description by NT Wright”

The notes in my Bible

I use digital and print combinations of the Bible. I appreciate both and I simply love having a physical Bible (or several). Recently I was flipping through my physical Bible looking up a passage and stopped on a couple of notes I had made in Lamentations not that long ago (2018). I was thankful IContinue reading “The notes in my Bible”

Our misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God

I truly wish I could articulate better what I truly believe in the deepest part of my soul about the Kingdom of God. N.T. Wright helps me. He articulates the vision of the Kingdom in a way I understand… but then I try to repeat it… and… ugh. There is so much to “undo” inContinue reading “Our misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God”

My personal question: What am I seeing?

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send outContinue reading “My personal question: What am I seeing?”

The Pharisee in me

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisee, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20) For us, as self-righteous white conservative evangelicals in America, we can all too often quickly declare, “Done. And done. I’m not a Pharisee!”

The power of the Sermon on the Mount

Since reading Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, about 20 years ago, the Sermon on the Mount has been more influential in my living and study and mindset than any other portion of Scripture, with the possible exception of Ephesians. Can you tell I get something out of it? This is the fascination and wonderContinue reading “The power of the Sermon on the Mount”

The oddities of the story of Balaam

The story begins in Numbers 22. The more I read it, the funnier it gets. The more I read it, the more serious an indictment it becomes.

The great temptation to avoid the work of the Cross

Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”