Poor Leah! It seems she was always playing second fiddle to her sister Rachel. Leah was the first born daughter of Laban; Jacob’s uncle. But from the time that Jacob first met Laban’s second born daughter; Rachel, he had his eye on her (see Gen. 29). Rachel was beautiful. A real “knockout” we would say …
Flashback: Stay With Us
Ever since I became a Christian back on February 11th, 1975, I’ve wanted to be in the presence of godly men. Back in the day I was saved, I worked a seasonal job that had me on unemployment during the winter months. This allowed me the opportunity to hang out with the youth pastor, Gary …
Flashback: Taking It Easy
Sometimes one would think that the highest priority in the practical life of our culture is to find what is the easy way. For instance, manufacturers are constantly trying to find easier ways to “make the sausage”. With the advent of mechanization, the race was on to make everything work more easily and effortlessly. Products …
The Blessings of Bondage in Egypt
Who among us would choose to go through incredibly difficult times? While difficult times come, we do not choose them. They are thrust upon us by circumstances controlled by a sovereign God. Of course, worldlings do not believe this. They believe they are victim of blind chance, that things just happen. There is no rhyme …
An Invitation Is Not an Obligation
An invitation always seems like such a “nice” thing. Here, sometimes out of the blue, comes a nice invitation to a birthday party, a wedding, a religious ceremony, a family event, retirement party, or some other kind of celebration. We are honored to be considered close enough to the subject(s) of the celebration, or their …
When Spectacular Is Not Enough
Elijah is one of the most intriguing characters in the OT. Rising out of obscurity in 1 Kings 17 during the days of Ahab and Jezebel, he becomes the central figure of the narrative between chapters 17 -19 and picks up again as such in 2 Kings 1-2. From earliest Sunday School days, children have …
New Year’s Eve: 2100
I now have 10 precious grandchildren. Each one of them has been born in the past seven years. That means that if the Lord tarries his coming and they live healthy life expectancies, the oldest of them, Dray, would be 87 when the year 2100 is christened. It is not an impossible thought that all …
God’s Calyxes
For many long years I have been reading the Bible. I’ve probably read from Genesis to Revelation somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 times. Yet, there are still things I read that confuse me and about which I do not have a grasp. So, I was reading through Exodus recently and kept coming across this …
The Right Stuff
It was 1983 when a movie entitled “The Right Stuff” came out. Can it really be that long ago now that such a “contemporary” movie came out? Anyway, if you have never seen it, it chronicles the breed of men called “test pilots” out of whom came the first Americans in space. They came to …
…and Peter
One of the dearest and most cherished aspects of the character of God is his tenderness toward wounded sheep. While mythological deities and pagan gods were often petulant, resentful, and retributive (tit for tat), the God of the Bible is presented as “bending over backwards” for those who are distressed by sin and truly repentant. …
