The Pattern of Scripture Advent. If you look back to its Latin origin, you’ll find it means “to come” or “the arrival,” and is usually used in reference to something or someone important. Christians celebrate Advent, the arrival, of Jesus at Christmas. The extraordinary, humble birth of Jesus altered the…
Category: Theology
Theology
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2 Samuel – The Fangs of Bitterness: Two Men Who Show Us How To Avoid The Poison
2 Samuel is a continuation of 1 Samuel and mostly focuses on the reign of King David. If you’d like a refresher of some things covered in that book, you can find it here: 1 Samuel – The Prophetic Lullaby – MandyGunter.com There are two stories in 2 Samuel that…
Theology
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1 Samuel – The Prophetic Lullaby
The books of Samuel are historical narratives like many others in the Old Testament. A fun fact is that they are split into two books simply because they are too long to fit onto an ancient scroll. They are intended to be read as one continuous story! 1 Samuel begins…
Christian Living
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The Suffering Tree – Trembling Branches and Secure Roots
Lament is not the absence of praise. It is simply the path through pain to praise.
Theology
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Ruth – Barren Wombs and Barley Fields
What an incredible story God gave us in the book of Ruth! I want to start off by saying that there are many great commentaries on this book, and recently added to that collection is David Platt’s preaching of Secret Church 24 in which he goes verse by verse through…
Theology
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Judges- Looking for Hope When the World Gets Darker
Judges is a constant downward spiral of Israel in every way. The judges themselves display this theme in their own character, going from good, to okay, to catastrophic.
But if we think our sin is any less abhorrent to God than those listed in this book, we deceive ourselves. Our sin, no matter how little we perceive it to be, marks us to our core. It is an abomination to a holy God.
While my hands are not stained with most of the evils detailed in Judges, they are dripping with sin of my own. If I’m not careful, pride will find a sliver of light and begin to work its way past the doorframe of my heart. I will think that my “lesser” sins mean I’m in less need to be saved from it.
Theology
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Joshua- Prostitutes and Promises
Joshua is an exciting book. It follows the death of Moses and the rebellious generation of Israel that refused to trust God to lead them into the Promised Land. At Moses’s request, God raises up Joshua to shepherd the people into their new land. Most theologians believe Joshua is a…
Theology
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Deuteronomy – Engraved On Your Hand
Deuteronomy is the last of the five books in the Torah. They have chronicled the beginning of the world, the flood, Abraham, slavery in Egypt, the Ten Commandments, wandering in the desert for 40 years, and now finally, Moses is at the end of his life and He is charging…
Theology
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Numbers- Where Justice and Mercy Balance the Scale
Thus far, on our journey through the Old Testament, Numbers has been by far the hardest to prepare for. Leviticus is usually where my flesh wants to get choked up. The laws are so heavy and some are incredibly difficult to understand from my modern view of the world, and…
Christian Living
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Mary Magdalene- When The Claws of Fear Are Defeated with Faith
Mary. Mary Magdalene stands outside the empty tomb. The disciples have looked in the tomb, and finding it empty, returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where…
Christian Living
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The Suffering Table
God has repeatedly brought a verse to mind over the last few weeks. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Isaiah 53:3 My husband, Chris,…
Theology
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Leviticus – God’s painting of His Holiness
Instead of narrowing in on a specific law or passage in this book, let’s examine some lenses to use as we study the book as a whole.
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Exodus
Glory and Goodness Exodus is the second book in the Bible. It picks up right where Genesis ended. Abraham’s family has indeed been created and grown. His great-grandson was sold into slavery and subsequentially rose to second in command of all Egypt. God has started to fulfil the things He…
Old Testament Importance
The Bible is divided into two primary sections- the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament details the life of Christ, the early church and letters written to it, and the promise of a world one day restored to perfection. The modern church spends considerable time studying and…
