November 2023

One of Jesus’ beatitudes is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Someone pointed out to me a long time ago that it doesn’t say blessed are the peacekeepers, but peacemakers. The difference between those two words is subtle, but strong. Peacekeepers work to maintain the peace that […]

Like Abraham, I too am blessed with a beautiful wife.  I recognize on a daily basis that I’m punching far above my weight. I recognize it, and I think God for it, so I can see where Abraham was coming from here in Genesis 12. I get why he wanted Sarah to lie to the

Altars are everywhere in the New Testament. Not the bad altars — the kind that people built to idols (although those are there too). I’m talking about altars of remembrance. The ones that people built because they wanted to remember a certain event in their life. Usually, they also wanted their ancestors to remember it

“Oh great, another article about how great Abraham’s faith is. Haven’t seen that before.” If you’re thinking that right now, I hear you. There are umpteen articles about Abraham’s faith, and for good reason. He’s called the “father of faith” (Romans 4:16), and Hebrews 11 uses him as a model for faith.  Throughout Scripture, Abraham

Right after the curious mention of Nimrod is an also curious mention of the tower of Babel. The Text is actually pretty straightforward about what happened. The people came together, built a tower, but were then punished as a result. What did they do wrong? Babel Shows Power of Unity On the one hand, I

Be honest: You probably (usually) skip over the genealogies that are in Scripture. Don’t be ashamed of it; they’re long, detailed, and usually involve a lot of names. I don’t blame you for jumping over them, but I will tell you that they deserve at least a cursory read through.  And an honest study, just

One of the strangest moments in Genesis (in my opinion) happens almost as a footnote to the events of the Flood. After the waters recede and God makes His promise with the rainbow, the Text mentions that Noah plants a vineyard and gets drunk. So drunk, in fact, that he “uncovers himself” inside his tent

There is something oddly comforting about the rotation of the seasons. Every summer, when I’m with my kids at the soccer and baseball fields, I crave the cold weather. Every winter, when we’re cooped up inside during those brutal Texas winters (last year it got to 50 F!), I look forward to summer. (Actually, what

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, I used to think that Noah’s flood involved just a bunch of rain. Granted, it was an enormous amount of dumpage — forty days and forty nights worth — but still, just rain. Maybe it was my own obliviousness to the minutiae of Scripture

As Christians, we’re used to standing alone. God tells us that we are part of the “narrow road” (Matthew 7:14), and several Bible characters operated in isolation. Elijah’s prayer of despair comes to mind when I think of the latter (1 Kings 19). But Noah was alone alone. He wasn’t just the only person in