Of all the passages or themes in the Bible, (that are least understood and most overlooked) there are few that rival the Israelite acts of genocide against the Canaanites. There will even be some who cringe at the way I have presented it here. Perhaps it would be much easier to deal with if it wasn’t explicitly commanded by God. The failure of the church to handle these passages well has been a great obstacle to defending the faith. But I believe that this failure is a greater problem than the passages themselves.

Is anybody out there?

Have you ever felt like God has left you on your own? I am sure most of us have been there at some point. Some might describe it as feeling like their prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. Others might just feel as if God is absent.

God is unchanging. His Word, like Himself, is immutable. Unfortunately, the ways of the world in which we live are not so. The opinion of the day wins the prize for the obedience of the nations. The winning thought varies depending on the source. This opinion is invariably at odds with the will of God. Likewise, the criterion for such opinions is ambiguous.

Have you ever gotten so caught up in the tasks or the demands of “today” that you have forgotten how you got “here” or where you will go from “here?” It happens to all of us. Whether it is the stress and strain of running a business, keeping up with job responsibilities, cramming for your next exam or parenting, we have all been there. For most, it is a place in which we can find ourselves far too often if we are not careful.

Knowing Christ and knowing of him are infinitely different. If we call ourselves “Christians” we better know which Christ it is that we serve.

Paul begins chapter 3 of his letter to the church at Philippi with a call for the church to rejoice. Indeed, as followers of Christ, if we look over the many things God has brought us through and the ways He has worked in us by His grace, we would have much to rejoice over! But all of this rejoicing is vain if it does not see the Lord as the giver, sustainer and source of all our good.

We all have those songs that remind us of our childhood. Thoughts of these songs sometimes bring with them smells and tastes, the faces of long-forgotten friends. Songs can also conjure up regrets. Maybe it is the thing we never got to say to someone or the things we never did with a loved one now gone. We may even get sad feelings from an upbeat song because of the good memories that we no longer share, memories we have left to only ourselves.

What good is it if we have all this world has to offer but lose our souls in the process? Those who are called to follow Christ have a much higher aim than anything that this world can offer. As such our values and ethics are not to be determined by the world in any way that conflicts with the divine revelation of God in His Word. We must be willing to let it all go.

Jesus’ disciples had abandoned him. His closest friend had betrayed him. The religious leaders had cornered him. The question came in a conversation between Jesus and Pilate: “What is truth?” The question is often understood as a rhetorical one in the context of this passage. However, Pilate was not seeking an answer; he was making a statement. It was a statement that perfectly captured the secular worldview of knowledge. Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that this verse was “the only saying that has any value” and Pilate was the “solitary figure worthy of honor” in the entire New Testament.[i] If you are not familiar with that name, you might be familiar with Nietzsche’s most infamous quote: “God is dead.”[ii]

“Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus and his disciples were alone. The conversation began with Jesus asking what others had said of his identity. Some supposed he was a new prophet or some kind of incarnate apparition of a former prophet. Jesus then posed this very question to his disciples. Peter, never the shy one, spoke up, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He was right.

It seems like the days of face to face conversations are almost vanishing. With the ongoing pandemic, even times together feel much less “together.” But this peculiar trend did not start with Covid-19.

Over the past several years, social media has given distant friends a common “space.” Families separated by job relocations can now see each other’s faces and be a part of each other’s lives even from a distance. The technology that has made this possible is a wonderful thing at times, but it has also brought some unexpected distancing.