Abraham – A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green

Rooted

The Christian faith has existed for 2,000 years. Nations, kingdoms, and empires have risen and fallen, but the kingdom of Jesus still stands. Not only does it stand, but it covers the earth—and this despite the fact that numerous attempts have been made down through the centuries to exterminate it. How is this so? IContinue reading “Rooted”

Happy Father’s Day from Mount Moriah

Imagine three things concerning Genesis 22: If all of that were true, then Terah could have received a postcard from his son saying, “Happy Father’s Day from Mount Moriah.“ And that would supply us with the emotional landscape we need to keep this story fresh (maybe raw is a better word). To think of AbrahamContinue reading “Happy Father’s Day from Mount Moriah”

A Great Plan for Life

Every spring at graduation, the years’ honorees hear an insidious untruth proclaimed over and over. It is delivered with the absolute best of intentions and from the purest of heart—but that will not change its—falsehood or its potential harmfulness. What am I speaking of? “You can be anything you want to be.” Those eight wordsContinue reading “A Great Plan for Life”

Overmatched

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is one of those texts that is both comforting and if we’ll admit to it—challenging. The fact of the matter is disciples are all for trusting in the LordContinue reading “Overmatched”

Oneness With God

Last week part of the fence in our back yard was taken down. Before that, it had formed an L-shaped corner with a longer section of fence. There was a wooden pallet leaning in that corner with one of those wire plant baskets perched on top of the pallet. As you’ve probably figured out, itContinue reading “Oneness With God”

Being Truthful With The Truth

With the conventions and election right around the corner, the political season is upon us. Many, but not all, of the candidates will be debating, spinning, equivocating, and spewing statistics faster than we can assimilate them. At times, it will be difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. The sheer volume of information we’re confronted with isContinue reading “Being Truthful With The Truth”

Waiting Or Walking?

I read a short story about a man in the basement of a building over one-hundred stories high. He was standing in front of a bank of elevators. The lights on them were flashing as they charted the floors the elevators were traveling to. And though they made frequent stops on the ground floor aboveContinue reading “Waiting Or Walking?”

Father Abraham

The theme of Romans is the righteousness (faithfulness) of God (1:16-17). Specifically, it is how God has been faithful to the world generally and the Jewish people specifically by fulfilling His promise to Abraham and bringing mankind together through Jesus. And the rub for many of the Jewish people of Paul’s time was that HeContinue reading “Father Abraham”

Starry, Starry Night

Northern California is the location of the giant sequoia trees. According to information from The Sequoia National Park website, the tallest of them tops out at somewhere around 300 feet with a base circumference of 40 feet. Their branches can be up to 8 feet in diameter and their bark is three feet thick. They weigh up to 2.7 millionContinue reading “Starry, Starry Night”

The Genesis Of Jesus

Matthew offers us several beginnings regarding Jesus in the introductory portion of his gospel (1:1-4:16). There’s the beginning of the preaching concerning the kingdom Christ is bringing in the work of John the Baptist (3:1ff). Then there’s the beginning of Jesus’ public life marked by His baptism (3:13ff) and the beginning of His ministry inContinue reading “The Genesis Of Jesus”