Paul prays that we’d see the evidence of God’s mighty power at work in the world. And in Ephesians 2, we see one of the main ways we can be sure God’s power is at work. It’s the real heart of what Ephesians says about the church. And that is that ins...
Christians talk about being saved. But what does it mean to be saved? Whatever we say we think it means, we should be meaning what’s said here in Ephesians 2. This is one of the richest passages in all the Bible word for word on what it means to be s...
Many people say they don’t believe in Christianity. But in all my years as a minister, I’ve seldom talked to anybody who rejected Christianity and actually knew what they rejected. If you’re uninterested in Christianity, you need to know what it is y...
No matter how long a sentence is, if you find the subject and the predicate, you can figure out the point of the sentence. In the original Greek, there are 202 words in this one sentence that spans from verse 3 to 14 of Ephesians 1. The subject of th...
We’re looking at an astonishing claim. In the New Testament, the word “blessing” doesn’t just mean what we mean by it today. It’s closer to shalom. It means every joy and every benefit your heart and soul needs and longs for. And in Ephesians 1:3, we...
In Jonah, the antagonists are the religious, moral people. It’s us. It’s the city-disdaining, city-phobic, religious, moral people. We’re the antagonists, and God is the protagonist. It all comes down to this last question when God says, “Should I no...
History tells us the Assyrian empire brought cruelty and massacre to a new level. It was a violent empire that slaughtered helpless people. And Jonah’s response to it is anger. He wants them punished. Yet, in the book of Jonah, we see one of the grea...
Jonah’s spirituality was fine for his old world and his old situations. But when he’s faced with a new situation, it just collapses. Then, when he’s in the belly of the fish, Jonah begins to reflect and pray, and as the prayer moves along, we see he...
Jonah runs away for two reasons: fear and hate. God has told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn them, but Jonah refuses. He’s afraid to put himself in the midst of his enemies, but he’s also filled with hate toward them. So the book of Jonah addresses in...
Words like sin, sinner, heathen and heretic have been used for centuries to exclude and oppress people. That’s one reason we need the book of Jonah. Jonah gives a concept of sin that can’t be used to oppress people. In fact, it shows that it’s one th...
