Today, it seems almost impossible to escape the talk of “The Rapture” within the North American Church. Over the last century, this teaching has become so popular within North-American Protestant thinking that even those outside the Church have heard of the term. This article and study takes a short look into this happening. This was […]
Why December 25th is the Day for Christmas
December 17, 2013 by
This is our pastor’s article for the Stone County Gazette. It should be published on December 26th. Why is December 25th the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth? If we are going to let the earliest history in the Christian Church be our guide, then the early Church chose December 25th to help teach that […]
Exodus, Lesson 21: God Continues to Furnish His Tabernacle
December 9, 2013 by
The Table of Presence Moses is still on top of the mounting getting instruction from God. The people were still at the base of the mountain (perhaps, still seeing the blazing fire of God’s presence). Part of those instructions dealt with worship and the architecture of where the people of Israel will worship. In the […]
Exodus, Lesson 20: God Begins to Furnish His Tabernacle–The Ark of the Covenant
December 6, 2013 by
With the Covenant now formed between God and His people, God now begins to formalize how His people will come to Him and how they can be in His presence. Read Exodus 25:1-9 – What does God ask of His people? – What stipulation does God put on how they give? In Exodus […]
Understanding Isaiah 66:24
November 23, 2013 by
In adult instruction (catechesis) for those being brought into the Church, we cover many teachings of Scripture. Sometimes, we have classes dealing with people’s specific questions. One such class dealt without how to understand the last verse in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. That verse reads: “And they will go out and look on […]
Exodus, Lesson 19: God Instituting His Covenant with His People
November 23, 2013 by
God is getting ready to institute His covenant with His people, Israel. However, this covenant will be based on loyalty: loyalty to God by Israel and loyalty to Israel by God. God’s expectations of loyalty from Israel are inextricably linked to the loyalty that Israel can depend on from God. Further, Israel’s loyalty is an […]
Exodus, Lesson 18: Sabbath Laws and God’s Instituted Festivals
November 19, 2013 by
We now move from societal laws to God-mandated festivals in the Old-Covenant annual calendar. Read Exodus 23:6-9 – Who is specifically singled out to help ensure justice is done? Why? – What is mentioned about bribes? – Why is a foreigner singled out for justice? Laws about the Sabbath Read Exodus 23:10-11 […]
Exodus, Lesson 17: On Being “Gods” and the Consecration of the Firstborn
November 10, 2013 by
We’ve seen so far that the civic laws focused on making sure that people did not unduly take advantage of the disadvantaged. And now when it comes to resolving disputes, we find that God doesn’t allow for His people to separate the ruling of the judges from Himself. Read Exodus 22:28 Excursus on being “gods” […]
Hosea, Lesson 8: The Way to Wellness
November 6, 2013 by
Hosea, chapter 13, delivers four of the prophet’s sayings just before the death of the nation in 722 BC. Last week, we looked at two of these sayings, which dealt with the worship life of the people. We begin looking at the other two, which are also permeated with the stench of death. The […]
Exodus, Lesson 16: Civil Ordinances Protecting Possessions, Property, and People
November 4, 2013 by
Moses had just given the Ten Words (Exodus 20) to God’s people. After that, he started giving God’s laws (mishpatim, not “words”), civil statutes, on how their society was to function. Today, we continue looking into these civil ordinances. Fighting and Assault Read Exodus 21:18-19 – How does this ordinance deal with fights (where no […]
