Lately, I’ve stopped keeping track of days. They all start to blend as being forced indoors feels more like incarceration. I’m too bored to do anything productive, yet I don’t want to spend the rest of the day doing nothing. It’s still dangerous to meet people in person and I’m tempted to delete the Zoom app off my phone. This …
Mark 6
In the following article you will find a brief commentary on Mark 6 that goes along with our Riverside Church Two Year Bible Reading Plan (Volume 1 & Volume 2). This plan will allow you to read the New Testament and Psalms once every year and the Old Testament once every two years. Mark 6 Rejection It is astounding to …
Genesis 23
Genesis 23 Living as Exiles At first read you may wonder why so much is made of Sarah’s burial place and the manner in which Abraham purchased it. Hebrews 11 offers some insight: Hebrews 11:9 (ESV) 9 By faith he [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and …
Genesis 20, 21, 22
Genesis 20-22 Father Abraham Genesis 20-22 form for us the final major chapter in Abraham’s life. From here he will fade in the story as Isaac rises to prominence, closing with his death recorded in Genesis 25. But before he goes we enjoy his greatest triumphs. First, there is the birth of the promised son, Isaac. We’ve walked with Abraham …
Genesis 16
The Patriarchs We are solidly into the second major section of Old Testament history, the Age of the Patriarchs. In these chapters following all the way through the remainder of Genesis we read of the ups and downs of the lives of the fathers of the faith. The promises given initially to Abraham are repeated to Isaac and Jacob. Jacob …
Genesis 15
And He Believed the Lord Genesis 15:6 is an important verse; Paul references it both in Romans 4:9 and Galatians 3:6, teaching that faith has always been the only way for sinful man to relate to God. This is important to grasp. Old Testament believers may have had less revelation than New Testament believers, but they still related to God …
Prayer: Dealing with our Doubts
2 Corinthians 1:9-11 [9] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [10] He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. [11] …
When Does God Answer Prayer?
1 John 3:22-23 We receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. God answers prayers for people who keep his commandments. His commandments are summed …
The Sovereignty of God and Prayer
I am often asked, “If you believe God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11) and that his knowledge of all things past, present, and future is infallible, then what is the point of praying that anything happen?” Usually this question is asked in relation to human decision: “If God has predestined some to be …