Elisha was the son of a farmer until Elijah invited him to follow him in the work of being a prophet (1 Kings 19:15-21). Elisha became his servant then. When Elijah was taken to heaven, Gehazi became Elisha’s servant. He was not called to prophesy. He seems to have simply been an employee, based on some of his actions when […]
Around 650 AD, Muslims finally prevailed in their attempts to conquer Persia. Their “evangelism” then included an invitation to become servants of Mohammad’s allah, or to be infidels subjected to a tax called jizya, or to be enslaved, or to be killed. Descendants of Persia still don’t consider themselves to be Arabs, and have their own version of Islam, setting […]
This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me— that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for […]
“No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.” The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at Him. And He told […]
The earth has been wounded with an injury to the death. It is floundering in the pain of being both poisoned and neglected. It groans for relief. It is not, however, looking to its Creator for redemption from death. It is looking to you and I. Not with hopes that we will become better stewards, or with hopes that our […]
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, once purified, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in the […]
In what we call Paul’s second letter to the congregations in Corinth, there is a section in which he was declaring his credentials as an apostle to them (10:12 – 12:13). There, he mentioned a thorn in his flesh, which he described as an angel, or messenger, from satan. It was given to him to prevent him from becoming proud […]
Business means both an enterprise that intends to create income and simply “being busy.” In Luke 19:11-27, Jesus told the people who were going with Him to Zacchaeus’ home a parable about His Kingdom. In the story, a man went away to be crowned as a King. Before he left, he gave ten of his servants ten minas each. That […]
One more reason you don’t want to have to submit yourself to the laws Yahweh gave Israel to make them a nation is in Deuteronomy 23:12-14. Remember – the deal Yahweh offered with that law was all of it or none of it… Live by it or die by it. Listening to and obeying the King by learning to hear […]
If you piled up all of the songs in American hymnbooks, almost half of them are about going to Heaven when we die. Probably another third of them are about having been comforted in our difficulties. Then Christmas carols and easter songs, then a few that just praise Him in His glory and His perfect character. Most of it is […]