New Birth

“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).” Imagine the impact these words of Jesus must have had on Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He is described in John 3:1 as a...

Faithfulness

As I stood in the Cenex garage waiting for my car to be repaired, I started thinking about faithfulness and whether or not my car could be deemed faithful. It’s been through an accident or two and has had to have its tires changed more than it probably should have,...

Reminders From a Road Trip

The trip from Park River to Grand Forks is a pretty mundane trip. There are no mountains, big cities, significant landmarks, or even coffee shops on the way. The destination isn’t even that exciting (unless you are going to a Sioux hockey game). I guess when it...

Suffering

“I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my eyes.  I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Job 42:5, 6 NLT I was struck recently by a sermon I read by James B. Torrance titled, “Why Does God Let Men...

Smaug’s Treasure and God’s Protection

With great excitement the children gather around the young adult. They are ready to run around, play, laugh and have a great time. The game, “Smaug’s Treasure” is quite simple. One participant designated “Smaug” endeavors to guard some...

Epiphany

Today is the 10th Day of the Christmas season.  I mentioned this before, but it is worth saying again; Christmas begins on Christmas Day, not Black Friday.  The true Christmas season lasts for 12 days from December 25 to January 5.[1] This means on January 6 the...

The Serpent in the Wilderness

          “And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the...

Reflections on hesed in Ruth

There is, in the Old Testament, a Hebrew word which has a nearly indefinable beauty to it.  That word is hesed. Sometimes English translations render it as “kindness.”  Other times it is “loyalty.”  Sometimes using “love” seems like the appropriate translation and at...

Promised through the Scriptures

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son…” Romans 1:1-3a ESV “The gospel of God” Paul says,...

Advent

Did you know that it is NOT Christmas… at least not yet?  You wouldn’t know it from all the décor and Christmas music (or should that be muzak?) that is being piped through shopping malls and broadcast all over the airwaves.  But it isn’t the Christmas season until...

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