Growing Deeper Into the Soil of God's Word to Bear Fruit For His Kingdom
“I will redeem it,” he said. Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.” At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it, because it might endanger... Continue Reading →
Michael Perry. Population: 485 – Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. Harper Perennial, 2007. A little over a year and a half ago, my wife and I moved from a medium sized city to a small town in rural Iowa. Even before we stepped foot in the state, I received an email inviting... Continue Reading →
Francine Rivers. A Voice In The Wind. Tyndale House Publishers, 1993. I generally avoid any book categorized as ‘Christian fiction.’ In the past few decades, a lot of bad writing has tried to gain a market by slapping the label ‘Christian’ on the front of it. The ugly triad of boring characters, simplistic plots, and... Continue Reading →
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. (1 Cor 8:1-3) In a recent consistory meeting (the governing body... Continue Reading →
“As it turned out, she was working in a field belong to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek” (Ruth 2:3b) God’s activity is subtle in the book of Ruth. Excellent timing here, faithful people there. Yet all the while, God continually works fullness and redemption for Ruth and Naomi. There is no more... Continue Reading →
Each new year opens with a certain freshness. So many possibilities, so many hopes, so many dreams. The old has passed away and – behold! - the new has come. The changing of years causes many of us to reflect on the past and make renewed commitments for the coming year. These resolutions include a... Continue Reading →
One of the inevitabilities of Christian ministry is the Christian funeral. Many ministers find presiding over funerals to be both incredibly challenging and incredibly rewarding. However, with the ever pressing demand of Sunday services, the death of a saint does not often allow for thorough analysis of the meaning and purpose of a Christian funeral.... Continue Reading →
And there were shepherd living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:8-9) The angel appeared to the shepherds at work. These young children (most likely) were not... Continue Reading →
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:22-23) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and... Continue Reading →
The American church has awoken to the need to invest in its leaders. Christian leadership development has become its own cottage industry with accompanying books, conferences, and celebrities. I drank deeply from this movement. I bought the books, took furious notes as I listened to speakers tell me the 3 (or 5 or 7)... Continue Reading →
Etz Pri 