Blessed are the poor in spiritfor theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 ESV Paradoxically, King David's most notorious sins give us a glimpse at just what makes him a great man of God. You probably know the story. After years on the run from Saul, David's kingdom is finally established. But in his …
Seeing the crowds,he went up on the mountain,and when he sat down,his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouthand taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:1-3 ESV The French mathematician Blaise Pascal once wrote: All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever …
Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” …
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and …
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, …
So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with …
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of …
Continue reading When Darkness Seems to Hide His Face | Ruth 1:1-6
As with the poem of the excellent wife in Proverbs 31, the book of Ruth is often left for women's studies. And it makes sense. Ruth and Esther are the only two books of the Bible that have a woman's name for the title, and within Ruth, two of the three main characters are women. …
Continue reading In the Days When the Judges Ruled | Ruth 1:1
The Lord used Martin Luther mightily to start the Protestant Reformation. While other Reformers like John Calvin would refine Protestant doctrine, Luther was a bull in a China closet who brought the Middle Ages to a close and ushered in the Modern Era of history. And like Athanasius before him, Luther stood contra mundum, against …
Karl Marx had a point. If you need to be refreshed on the overall concept of Marxism, allow me to help. Marx viewed life as one great power struggle between socioeconomic classes. Specifically, he saw capitalism as creating a large gap between the bourgeoisie (elite upper class) and the proletariat (poorer lower class), and that …
Continue reading The Christian Vision of Marriage | Ephesians 5:22-33
B. C. Newton 