This past Sunday I introduced the passage of study with a quotation from N. D. Wilson about how life gets progressively more and more difficult, regardless of how much you have actually matured. It seemed to capture the essence of Israel's sudden battle with the Amalekites. Ready or not, battle was thrust upon them. And …
https://youtu.be/CZcvGQKC034 The truth is that a life well lived is always lived on a rising scale of difficulty. As a little kid, I had a job: Obey my mother. Don't lie. Play hard. Be kind to my sisters. At the time, that job was actually difficult. My mom kept saying things like, "Come here." And, …
He determines the number of the stars;He gives to all of them their names.Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;His understanding is beyond measure. Psalm 147:4-5 ESV It is said that there are more stars in the universe than there are words spoken by all humans throughout all of history. That means that the …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jASJMEzjyeqHHuEX1Ebil?si=6Z-Hlz4vRkKvSbkrWEQdtg In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published his bestselling book, The Population Bomb, which predicted the apocalyptic death of millions in the 70s and 80s as the result of over-population. Surely you have heard the nutshell of his argument before: the earth and its resources simply cannot sustain humanity's ever-growing population. Sixty years later, the fact …
Continue reading Facing an Empty Planet and the Shock of Global Population Decline
https://youtu.be/rPHDjKzsCIE I must confess that I am sort of ready to be done with all these passages about Israel's grumbling in the wilderness. I do not find the repetition to be boring by any means. Instead, I am reminded all over again that God's Word really is alive and active, slicing like a sword through …
The insolent smear me with lies,but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; Psalm 119:69 ESV The insolent in this verse are those who lord themselves over God's Word. Like scoffers, they mock and belittle the testimonies of the Most High, rejecting His authority over them as their Creator. Indeed, like the fools that …
Continue reading The Insolent Smear Me with Lies | Psalm 119:69
https://open.spotify.com/episode/70FTMuYp58fhAG3RsiYzBW?si=WFJsG3TJQcaHzwpkLBFc0g That is the question that every preacher must ask, and he must answer that question for himself in accordance with the wisdom of the Spirit. I know plenty of faithful fellow preachers on both sides of the question. Even so, here is my experience attempting to answer the question. I began my pastorate eight …
https://youtu.be/a3oq5ZH6wCQ While this chapter of Exodus most notably describes the miraculous gift of manna (the bread of angels) to the Israelites in the desert, we began the chapter last week without discussing the manna much at all. Instead, we focused upon the grumbling of the Israelites, the provision of God, and the reason for both …
When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,but the righteous is established forever. Proverbs 10:25 ESV We do right to compare suffering and affliction to storms. Like a tempest, trials often race across the horizon and overshadow us in a moment, and the destruction that they leave in their wake can be devastating. Indeed, …
While my favorite aspect of Matthew Henry’s commentaries are his brief yet piercing nuggets of application, my journey with Henry through Genesis 3 led me to the insights below, which were captivating enough to me that, instead of highlighting a couple of sentences like I normally do, I simply wrote at the top of the …
B. C. Newton 