Luke 16 brings together two parables, one is the story of a shrewd manager who is identified at first as dishonest but ends up commended. The second story tells us the fate of a rich man and the beggar who lived at his gate. Both parables are unique to Luke. Sandwiched between them is some… Continue reading Reckoning
Tag: Biblical Studies
Time to repent
In Jesus day, there wasn’t really any question that sin was a problem, nor that it deserved judgement.. A culture that accepted the reality of sin may seem a long way from our “sinless and shameless” culture today. However, there were questions about the nature of sin and more pertinently who was a sinner. To… Continue reading Time to repent
Will any dream do?
In the summer, our church enjoyed a mini series on the life of Joseph. You can listen to the talks by Chris, James and me here. One of the things I try to do from time to time is provide additional devotional and study resources to help people dig more into the text in the… Continue reading Will any dream do?
“I will bless you”
There’s something profoundly significant in the statement “From this day on I will bless you” As you read it or hear it, I wonder how you are responding? I wonder if you are asking whether this statement could apply to you and your church right now? If from now on God will bless you, then… Continue reading “I will bless you”
Building work: Applying the post exile books to us today
I believe that a crucial principle when applying God’s word to our lives today is that wherever we are in the Bible, we make the application in and through Christ. The temptation, especially with Old Testament literature is to take what happens with God’s people, what God says to them and what they do and… Continue reading Building work: Applying the post exile books to us today
Hearing and understanding
The latest Faithroots Podcast is now on YouTube. We are looking at Luke 8:1-21.
Post exile Biblical Theology
I suspect that the post exile Bible literature is up there/ or rather down there with the least attended to of the books of the Bible. It’s not helped by the fact that out of those books, it’s Nehemiah that is most likely to be chosen for preaching on but then it’s likely to be… Continue reading Post exile Biblical Theology
Don’t look back in anger
We are coming to the end of the story. In fact w are coming to the end of several stories, the story of famine in Egypt, the story of Joseph and his brothers, the story of Jacob and the story of beginnings, the end of Genesis. We should therefore treat the conclusion here as one,… Continue reading Don’t look back in anger
The future of a family
Joseph has had his own private audience with his father and his sons but as Jacob gets closer to death, he has things to say to his whole family. Read Genesis 49 Jacob assembles his family. Once again note the interchange of names, they are “sons of Jacob”, he is their “father Israel.” He prophesies… Continue reading The future of a family
Echoes of a blessing
I think there was a real sense in which Joseph had died to Jacob when he went to Egypt. He now was more Egyptian that Hebrew and that’s where his priorities in the life lay, even if he still had hope for return to Canaan one day. This fact probably helps us to understand a… Continue reading Echoes of a blessing
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