We live in a world full of poverty and oppression. There is real, soul-crushing need out there, and everyone's asking for help. You see it when you open the news. If you ever give any money to any aid organization, you'll get mail from all of them, eager to tell you about the deep needs they're trying to meet. It can be both heart-breaking and perplexing: What can I do? You're only one person, you only have so much money. When there's so much real poverty in the world, who do we help?
There's a distinction between two religious offices of the Old Testament we need to be clear on. This will help us to properly understand the Old and the New Testaments, and it will clear up some of the confusion people have as we live out our faith in the 21st century.
This week I'd like to share some articles I think you'll find helpful or edifying.
I put on an old pair of jeans and was informed that they are fashionable. I've never been in style before, so I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that. Moreover, my daughter will happily adopt them if I'll part with them. Apparently "distressed dad chic" is a thing. I might let her wear them just to see how she plans to keep them up.
Fashions in dress come and go and sometimes come back. Bell bottoms made a brief return, and somehow mullets came back in style. Fashions in sin do the same. Every generation is prone to some sins more than others, and they usually don't even notice.
Bible reading isn't Bible study. Simply moving your eyes across the page is an important part of the process, but it's as different from Bible study as walking on the beach is from hunting buried treasure. But "Bible study" doesn't necessarily mean inductive Bible study, either. There are a variety of ways we can dig deeper into the scriptures. I want to share an unusual commentary that demonstrates ten different approaches to studying the Bible.
