Jesus was a rabbi—a teacher of the Old Testament. In His ancient Jewish context, homosexuality was universally seen as contrary to God’s design. Had Jesus wanted to overturn the obvious Old Testament stance against homosexuality, He would have needed to make a lot of noise. But the New Testament offers ample evidence that His views … Read more
When non-Christians share their life story, it is a biography. When Christians share their life story, it is supposed to be a testimony. The difference between a biography and a testimony is who the hero of the story is. In a biography, there is a tendency to downplay or even dismiss the faults, flaws, and … Read more
In old western movies, there were good guys and bad guys. The good guys wore white cowboy hats, and the bad guys wore black cowboy hats. Life, however, is a lot more complicated than an old gunslinger show. If we are honest, even if we are believers, some days we wear the white hat, and … Read more
Life often reminds me of the first time I remember flying a kite as a kid. My entire focus was on getting the kite in the air. I kept running back and forth, as fast as I could, dragging the kite behind me, hoping it would eventually take off and soar. I don’t know how … Read more
The appearance of Gideon, the man of God, as bread in the dream also points to the future coming of Jesus Christ, the Greater Gideon. Like Gideon, Jesus is called the “bread of life,” is born in Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”), multiplied the bread of a boy to feed a crowd, and taught … Read more
The writer Mark Twain once said something that sounds a lot like the scene we will now study in Gideon’s life, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” The time had come for Gideon, called and anointed by God, to lead untrained civilians … Read more
Syncretism is what happens when you worship both God and other gods, obeying some of what God says and some of what Satan says. Jesus will not allow any syncretism in Gideon’s life and does not allow any syncretism in our life. Gideon’s father was a pagan worshiping the demon god Baal and demon goddess … Read more
The Purge is a series of horror movies based on the premise that, for one 12-hour period each year, there are no laws, people are free to commit any crime, and there are no emergency services (e.g., police, fire fighters, and medical care). During this time, people go into hiding to survive, and the evilest … Read more
Paying attention to the following themes in Judges can be helpful in using it as a story to better understand your own heart, life, and culture. Covenant. God is faithful to His covenant people even when they are unfaithful to Him. God’s promise to Abraham, that He would raise up and provide for His people, … Read more
Judges is closely related to the book of Deuteronomy which prophesies the future events reported in Judges. A Bible commentary says: “…Deuteronomy most clearly expresses [God’s] covenant. Judges is then a sermon on Deuteronomy [with] lessons drawn from history illustrating Deuteronomic principles. This characteristic unites the parts of Judges into a whole. Deuteronomy 7:2 commands … Read more
Because of Abraham’s sin, we have a constant war between the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac. We saw that with the recent invasion and terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel. The corresponding global rise in antisemitism is demonic. The terrorist attack took place on a Saturday morning, which is the Jewish Sabbath. … Read more
In high school, I was not a Christian. Some Christians in our large public school, however, wanted to change that. Year after year, we would have debate after debate. They would try to convert me, and I would try to disprove them. At some point in nearly every debate, they would tell me that I … Read more