THE STORY OF JESUS: Amos 3:1-5:17 “When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?” (Amos 3:8). One week ago a tsunami hit the Indonesian city of Palu, killing over 1400 people. Based on what Amos says here, did the Lord cause this? We need to read these words in their context, for their…
Author: Norm
Angry at a depraved world!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Amos 1-2 “They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.” (Amos 2:6) Can people become so depraved that they see no value in others. Amos is announcing God’s anger for how people are abusing others. Some may say the OT God is angry, but is it any…
Loving Jesus and the poor!
THE STORY OF JESUS: John 12:1-11 “You will always have the poor among you…” (John 12:8) Some use these words as an excuse not to address the problem of poverty. But the real issue is that they are looking for excuses not to love. It was the same for Judas; it was not concern for the poor…
Avoiding the spotlight!
THE STORY OF JESUS: John 11:54-57 “Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea.” (John 11:54) Jesus is not just avoiding trouble, He is avoiding premature trouble. He is a dangerous person in a dangerous time, He could touch off a ‘revolution’. He is not this kind of messiah, but this is what the…
Little did he know!
THE STORY OF JESUS: John 11:45-53 “Better that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (John 11:50) As an occupied nation, Israel was at risk whenever someone claimed to be king. The religious leaders worried that word of rebellion would bring Rome’s anger. The temple and the nation were at great risk…
Believing is seeing!
THE STORY OF JESUS: John 11:38-44 “If you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) I believe God CAN raise a dead person to life. But I normally do not believe that God WILL raise a dead person. For some reason, God doesn’t go about raising dead people on a regular basis. God does…
Delighting in the Lord… through the bible!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 119:1-24 “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counsellors.” (Psalm 119:24) More than anything for David, God was his “delight and joy” (Psalm 43:4). Because he delighted in God, he also delighted in God’s revelation. He found the Torah (the books of Moses) helpful for knowing and loving God. In this song,…
Am I my brother’s keeper?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Obadiah 1 “You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune.” (Obadiah 1:12) Edom (from Esau, Jacob’s brother) and Israel (from Jacob) fought for years. Obadiah describes how Edomites took advantage of defeated Israel and her refugees. This tension makes me think of the present day tensions between Jews…
God’s Spirit on all people!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Joel 1-3 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people!” Earlier Joel had called all people to assemble for repentance (2:16-17) Their sinful rebellion had resulted in life-destroying consequences. Now Joel is predicting a time of life being revived, restored, refreshed. In Genesis 2:7 the Spirit (breath) of God gave…
With love and tears!
THE STORY OF JESUS: John 11:28-37 “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) In Jesus, we see God; in Jesus’ tears, we see God’s tears. Could God or Jesus keep us from dying – technically, yes. (John 11:37) For some reason God does not just snap His fingers and fix everything. He does intervene at times, but His goal is more…