Karen EngleSometimes Wisdom Literature can be confusing or wrongly understood through the lens of modern-day culture and context. Yet there is much we can glean from the wisdom of generations of God’s people when those books of the Bible are rightly studied...
In his book Family Discipleship, Matt Chandler says we should be leading our homes by doing everything we can “to help [our] family become friends and followers of Jesus Christ.” He says that it’s the most crucial, weighty, and enjoyable job we will...
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. — Isaiah 46:10, NIV The significance of Palm Sunday was lost on me as a child. I suspect it’s lost on most Christian adults, too. My first memories of Palm Sunday...
When I’m in Jerusalem, I love watching gaggles of Jewish children walking alongside their fathers. And when I hear them call their daddy, my heart melts. “Abba! Abba!” At times I’m sure it sounds a lot like when my kids were little and needed my...
Today is Ash Wednesday. Also called Day of Ashes, Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent—the 40 weekdays before Easter for Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant believers. Many Protestants in less liturgical churches or people outside the...
John Piper’s recently released book on God’s providence has been a work coming to fruition for some 20 years. And it’s meaty—700 pages. But Piper isn’t shy about its size—or its title (some may wonder why the word “sovereignty” isn’t included). He...
Perhaps you’ve heard how Logos 9 can help you study the Bible—and maybe you even poked around on logos.com to see what all the fuss is about. You likely saw some of the powerful new features and thought, This. Looks. Really. Cool. But . . . We know...
Today is a day set aside to remember one of the most somber events in history. International Holocaust Day commemorates the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and honors the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of...
If you’re like me, you probably set out each new year with lofty Bible study goals. And then, well—life happens. A few random distractions can quickly turn much-intended goals into a nice idea shelved for next year.
This Christmas, contemplate the mystery of the incarnation through the eyes of 10 fellow believers throughout the ages.
How will you draw closer to Christ this Christmas? Guide your personal study, family study, or worship in your church with these books on Advent and Advent book collections. 1. God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by...
Systematic theology might sound like a topic better left for the pros—those pastors and teachers called by God to do the heavy lifting for us. We trust them to sift through the words, topics, and themes in the Bible, tie everything together, and...
Seminary will challenge you beyond what you might imagine—spiritually, intellectually, and even physically. For me, going to seminary was the hardest and most wonderful experience of my life. Whether you are already going to seminary or plan to...
Many Bible readers are familiar with the plague in Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Exod 7:14–12:32)—water turning to blood and infestations of frogs, lice, flies, locusts, and the like. With coronavirus on everyone’s mind, questions abound of...
View from Mount Nebo, Jordan, where Moses was granted a view of the promised land. Source: commons.wikimedia.org In Genesis 12, God promised Abram: I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will...
What does it take to pray like a Puritan? And why would we want to? For the Puritans, prayer was neither casual nor dull but a passionate affair. A cry for mercy. Unabashed praise for the Creator of all things. Vibrant expressions of deep Christian...
Reading theologians with similar views is like cozying up next to a fireplace on a winter day in a favorite chair. It feels comfortable. Safe. Those like-minded wise ones become leaders of the tribe with which we belong, the theological clique we...
Poems and songs. History and narrative. Wars and celebrations. Romance and grief. The Bible is an eclectic book. But it’s more than a book. It’s a compilation of sacred writings God gave us to know and love him better—it is the word of God. And...
Understanding the Trinity—one God in three persons (Father, Son, and Spirit)—takes us into deep theological waters, where the simplest math fails us: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. Even though the word “Trinity” never appears in the Bible, God reveals himself...
We often read our Bibles as if Jesus made his first appearance in this world as a baby in the New Testament. Our story as Christians, we sometimes think, starts with the book of Matthew. But the Bible’s witness to Jesus did not begin there. A common...
Each time an artifact related to the biblical narrative is unearthed in Israel or the surrounding lands of the Bible it becomes a witness to the perfection of God’s Word. And it happens all the time. Here are six recent archaeological...
Biblical archaeology is archaeology focused on the ancient Near East. It includes places like modern-day Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, and Iran from 1,400 BC through the first century AD. And though students of the Bible often...
Thirty-three miles east of the Mediterranean Sea on a limestone plateau in the Judaean Hills rests one of the oldest cities in the world: Jerusalem. Jerusalem is mentioned 660 times in the Old Testament and 141 in the New—more if you count all its...
It’s been called the “heart” of the promised land—a 141-square-mile triangle in the north-central area of Israel. Today, the Jezreel Valley is Israel’s breadbasket. A beautiful plain of fertile fields and winding roads, it’s hemmed in by rolling...
Hebrew doesn’t come easy for most—it certainly didn’t for me. While in my Hebrew classes in seminary, I set aside one full day a week to study it, trying my best to memorize the piles of vocabulary words my professor assigned and learn all...
But who do you say the Son of Man is? (Matthew 16:15) Perhaps Jesus’ most famous, pointed question, this marks a turning point in the Gospel of Matthew and is mentioned in Mark and Luke, too. After Simon Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son...
Testing the acoustics In the 1970s, archaeologist B. Cobbey Crisler and professional sound engineer Mark Miles set up equipment at a cove on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to test this phenomenon. They investigated the natural terrain and whether...
Eventually, this grievous sin led to Israel’s dispersion from the land (2 Kgs 15:29), and to this day, Dan is a byword in Judaism for apostasy. But that’s not the end of the story of Tel Dan. The hope of a promise North of Tel Dan is a hilly area...
Magdala was not by the Jordan River. Nazareth was not by the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was not in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. Only Capernaum met Isaiah’s criteria. Jesus brought a message of grace, love, and repentance—“light” to those who...
