Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
With the rhythm of a drummer the prophet Ezekiel called on readers to know and respond to God—Yahweh—as the only true God. His repeated refrain was a promise: “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” What brings about this “knowing”? Mainly it comes by experiencing promised disasters when they arrive. Tragedies are God’s …
Read More They Shall KnowThis entry repeats an entry already offered at the Cor Deo site – please offer any responses there: thanks! The Bible is an epic story: a true and transcendent portrayal of reality. It invites us to live in light of God’s purposes and in line with his truth. In this story God—the Father, Son, and …
Read More Living TruthJob, an epic sufferer in the Bible, was both confronted and affirmed by God. God confronted him as a “faultfinder” (40:1) but he also affirmed Job for having “spoken of me what is right” (42:7) in contrast to Job’s moralistic friends. God’s contrasting references to Job invite attention. First, what in Job pleased God? A …
Read More Job’s TreasureMy friend and colleague Dave reached me last night with the news. The UK visa authorities are revoking his family’s permission to live in England. Given his wife’s late pregnancy he now needs to close up their Chippenham home and move back to the States in the next two weeks. Similar revocations have hit other …
Read More Apple CartsI noticed the two questions Jesus asked his audience in Luke 18: “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith …
Read More Christ’s Two QuestionsIn the Bible—1 Samuel 5—we read of Dagon, the Philistine God of Samuel’s era. For a brief time Yahweh, the God of Israel, shared a room with Dagon. And it wasn’t a happy time for Dagon’s team. Let me summarize the events. At this stage of Bible history Israel was only superficially devoted to Yahweh—“the …
Read More Toppling Dagon“Thank you” is a bonding phrase. When our service or kindness receives a smile and a “thanks” a satisfying relational loop is completed. The other person’s words recognize our action not as a duty but as an expression of care. But thanksgiving is not as common as it could be. I know a man, for …
Read More Thanks!Change is constant—there’s no escaping it. And our changes in life can range from profound to unsettling—though most land somewhere in between. Nothing we experience in a given moment will ever return in exactly the same way. Our bodies grow and then decline and finally give up. Our primary relationships emerge in the heyday of …
Read More Unchanging ChangeThis entry has also been submitted to the Cor Deo site In ancient days a violent storm or a volcano eruption were readily explained: “The gods must be angry!” “The gods” seem to have been capricious beings who used the earth as a whipping post. So what about the true God’s anger and our experience …
Read More The gods must be angry!On my office wall I have a decades-old photo of a sunrise in Alaska. I took it from the bow of our fishing boat, Northern Light II, as we sailed to Steamboat Bay on Noyes Island. We were passing south of Prince of Wales Island at the time and it was my turn at the …
Read More A Sunrise in Alaska