Nehemiah 1:1-3:14; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24; Psalm 31:19-24; Proverbs 21:4 Sexual freedom is highly valued in our culture. Anything that intrudes upon someone's ability to act out their sexual desires (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else-- with no clear grounding of what hurt means) is considered harm. This cultural value begins with the individual and their ability to do whatever they want. In 1 C...  Read More

Ezra 10:1-44; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 21:3 “But” may be one of the most amazing, wonderful words in the Bible because it indicates the complete reversal of our situation through Jesus Christ. After listing several regrettable sinful states in I Corinthians 6, Paul says, “And that is what some of you were. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the nam...  Read More

Ezra 8:21-9:15; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 21:1-2 Holy. God's people are those who have been made holy through the work of Jesus. They have been declared righteous and yet we still struggle to live in practically holy, righteous ways.Ezra 8-9 describes a second remnant of Israelites returning to Jerusalem from Babylon and finding that the first group of returnees were living just...  Read More

Ezra 7:1-8:20; 1 Corinthians 4:1-21; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 20:28-30 Paul and Ezra were both men who were willing to do anything to make God known. They were aware of their calling to essentially be disciples who make disciples and thus were willing to do anything and go anywhere that God would call them. Ezra was called by God to leave Babylon and go back to Jerusalem. Though it may sound impres...  Read More

Ezra 4:24-6:22; 1 Corinthians 3:5-23; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 20:26-27 Sixteen years. The returned exiles began building the temple but had been forced to stop due to government decree for sixteen years. Imagine the excitement and energy they would have when they returned to Jerusalem and yet how quickly it dissolved into apathy and frustration. They would have sat around for sixteen years as the ...  Read More

Ezra 3:1-4:23; 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 20:24-25 Fear can be crippling. When we are afraid we find ourselves shrinking back and feeling like our stomach is in knots. That is how the Israelites felt as they returned to Jerusalem. They were surrounded by hostile people who wanted to see them fail in their mission. Rather than allowing their fears to determine their decisions the...  Read More

Ezra 1:1-2:70; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 20:22-23 Our world is full of scary things that can make us feel as if it’s completely out of control.  Contagious disease, political unrest, and war all swirl around us as we try to navigate this strange new world. Today’s passages show us that God is completely in control and that events are occurring exactly as God has intended they...  Read More

2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23; 1 Corinthians 1:1-17; Psalm 27:1-6; Proverbs 20:20-21 Hope is a necessary ingredient for life. Where there is no hope there is no motivation to keep on going. We see in America an epidemic of hopelessness that reveals itself in aimlessness, suicide, and depression. 2 Chronicles ends with disaster. Judah was first overrun by Egypt and then conquered by Babylon. Their defeat...  Read More

2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33; Romans 16:10-27; Psalm 26:1-12; Proverbs 20:19 As we near the end of our study of the kings of Israel and Judah we see one of the key ingredients that determined the outcome of each of them. The choice of the king to live in humility or pride always ended up steering their lives. Manasseh is a powerful example of a king who experienced both. He began his reign by doing wh...  Read More

2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13; Romans 15:23-16:9; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 20:16-18 Why do you believe the Bible to be true? A simple internet search reveals a myriad of skeptics who try to poke holes in the truthfulness of the Bible. Living in this sea of ideas, we must know why we believe what we believe.The ultimate foundation for our belief is Jesus. The fact of his life, death, and resurrection, an...  Read More

2 Chronicles 30:1-31:21; Romans 15:1-22; Psalm 25:1-15; Proverbs 20:13-15 Hezekiah lived in an unprecedented time. The northern kingdom of Israel had been taken into exile by Assyria. He watched his father Ahaz build altars to other gods, sacrifice his own children on the altar, and rip Solomon’s magnificent temple to shreds, giving the gold and worship items to the king of Assyria as an appeaseme...  Read More

2 Chronicles 29:1-36; Romans 14:1-23; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 20:12The seminary I attended (Dallas Theological Seminary) mandates that all students affirm the essentials of the Christian faith in order to attend as students. These essentials are:the Trinitythe full deity and humanity of Christthe spiritual lostness of the human racethe substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christsal...  Read More