THE DIVISION of the kingdom of Israel is the focus of our Old Testament study this week. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, gets bad advice from his young friends, not just rejecting the request of the northern tribes for tax relief, but doing so with a rather crude euphemism.Continue Reading
CHURCH LEADERSHIP and proper behavior for Christians is the focus of Paul’s letters that we study this week. Timothy had been left in charge of the church Ephesus, while Titus had been left on the island of Crete to shepherd the new church there.Continue Reading
ENTANGLEMENTS WITH cares of the world, whether it’s business, politics, or personal relationships, can distract us from what we’re called to do by God. This week, we see the fall of Solomon, whose wives draw him into the worship of pagan gods.Continue Reading
OUR STUDY in the New Testament this week focuses on military formations and tactics, although it might not seem that way at first.Continue Reading
ANOTHER BOOK of wisdom attributed to Solomon is our Old Testament study this week. The collected sayings of “the Preacher” are generally gloomy, but only in that they remind us of the folly of pursuing material things apart from God.Continue Reading
LETTERS FROM Paul in Rome are the focus of this week’s New Testament study, and there is a lot of meat here. Paul addressed errant teachings that threatened to undermine the gospel of salvation by grace through faith at Colossae and Ephesus.Continue Reading
PROVERBS OF Solomon copied at the direction of King Hezekiah are the focus of our Old Testament study this week.Continue Reading
PAUL TRAVELED to Rome in A.D. 60, but not the way he would have wanted. Getting a ride on an Alexandrian grain ship, Paul and his traveling companions ran aground at Malta where they spent the winter before completing the journey to Rome.Continue Reading
PRAISE THE Lord! That’s the theme of the Psalms in today’s Old Testament study. We examine a half dozen psalms of praise and find divine council language, making it clear that the psalmists knew that other (small-G) gods existed.Continue Reading
PAUL RETURNS to Jerusalem in this week’s study, in spite of warnings from believers from Asia to Judea that he would be arrested and possibly killed. But Paul already knew that.Continue Reading