Devotionals

Full Hands

By Stuart Powell God intended to keep the wonders and miracles of the exodus alive in the hearts and stories of the Israelites. To help with that, he preserved the narratives and established new traditions where the stories could be retold and relived. As part of the Law, God established three weeklong holidays—the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. (The Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated this week.) At each feast, a sacrifice was brought before God, to be dedicated to remember him. Listen to part of God’s description for what he intended in Israel’s celebration. “Celebrate the

September 22, 2020

Michael C. Mack

Why Wait?

By Michael C. Mack After our wedding in 1990, Heidi and I moved into a 40-unit apartment building in Cincinnati. We wanted to lead an investigative Bible study to reach out to people who lived there, so I asked Glen, a minister at our church, to tell me how to start. “I don’t think you should do a Bible study . . . at least not yet,” he said. The tilt of my head and subconscious furrow of my brow must have given away my concern; I was eager to start this study right away and allow God to use

September 22, 2020

Megan Rawlings

5 Lessons from a Flea

By Megan Rawlings The Black Death was caused by bacterium and was initially spread by fleas. Starting in Asia (most likely), it spread to Eurasia and North Africa in the mid-1300s, and eventually the plague killed up to one-quarter of the world’s population in about four years. At least 100 million people died. And to think, it was spread by a pest barely visible to the eye. I will spare you the details, but the symptoms of this virus were devastating, and death usually occurred only weeks, sometimes days, after the first symptoms. It was not uncommon for the ill

September 21, 2020

Save Us!

By Stuart Powell Each of the Gospels rushes through Jesus’ earthly ministry until they come to the cross. Then they slow down the narrative, bringing us the full impact of Jesus’ passion. Luke shared the details of a conversation Jesus had with the two criminals as they hung on their crosses on Good Friday. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting

September 7, 2020

Expensive Messages

By Jon Wren Would you like to receive a birthday message from legendary quarterback Brett Favre? It’ll cost you $400. Want to send your spouse an anniversary message from country music superstar Granger Smith? That’ll cost you $74. Or, since it’s Grandparent’s Day, perhaps you’d like to send your grandparent or a grandchild an encouraging video from Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss. It’ll cost you $999. All of these celebrities and more can record and deliver a custom video message for you through a platform called Cameo. Cameo contracts with various singers, actors, athletes, and other famous people to provide, for

August 31, 2020

Manna

By Jon Wren They were living in “unprecedented times.” It was their “new normal.” And they were all “in this together.” They were a group of desert nomads wandering in the wilderness with no idea of what would happen one day to the next. Some missed the certainty of the past, others had a mixture of hope and skepticism about the future, but they all were tired and disillusioned with the present. Sound familiar? Even though the events of Exodus 16 took place among very different people and in very different circumstances than our own, it’s hard not to see

August 24, 2020

They Forgot

By Stuart Powell The book of Judges begins with the hope that Israel will complete the unfinished work Joshua left them by transforming the land into the dwelling of God’s people. Yet the generations after Joshua learned that living as holy people is not easy. It created conflict between Israel and the people around them. As the Israelites settled into their inherited houses and began gathering the harvests from the adopted gardens, something terrible happened. Judges 3:7 summarizes the tragedy: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals

August 17, 2020

Community of Outcasts

By Stuart Powell In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we read about King Saul, who, filled with delusional jealousy and hatred, set out to kill David, whom he feared would take his throne. David escaped to safety and refrained from starting a rebellion. But during his time in exile, many people became connected to the young man who would become the next ruler. Scripture says, “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around [David], and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him” (1 Samuel 22:2). The people who first

August 15, 2020

God Provides in Times of Crisis

Generosity, Responsibility, Humility: The Church’s Threefold Response to COVID-19 By Gary Johnson and Jared Johnson “History repeats itself” is a familiar phrase because it’s true. In the opening pages of Scripture, Egypt was a world superpower. That nation experienced prosperity like no other realm had ever known. The years of unprecedented bounty, though, were followed by seven years of famine. Is something similar occurring in America? In recent years, the United States has enjoyed an era of prosperity—from record low unemployment to record high returns in the financial markets. However, an insidious and destructive virus circled the globe and within

August 15, 2020

Michael C. Mack

Provider

By Michael C. Mack What do God’s people do when faced with challenges like a worldwide pandemic or civil unrest? We always have a choice: immediately seek solutions or turn to God. Of course, this is not a binary choice—we can do both—but it’s vital for God’s church that we “seek first” to place our trust in him. The coronavirus and its effects are really not all that novel. For more than four millennia, God’s people have faced challenges literally of biblical proportions, and we can learn from the choices, good or bad, they made. In this issue, we’ve included

August 15, 2020

Waiting Is Working

An Ancient Commentary on the Corona Quarantine from Joseph and the Famine By Mark E. Moore The most difficult thing about the coronavirus pandemic has been the quarantine. Call it “stay at home,” call it “shelter in place”—regardless what you call it, it is forced “waiting.” Waiting is hard work. It feels passive, stifling, a waste of time. However, the “waiting room” in God’s healthcare system is where much of the heart surgery takes place. Waiting is where our character is solidified so opportunities can be maximized. There is a pattern for waiting and then working that is as ancient

August 15, 2020

Anna Brink

Once Upon a Pandemic

By Anna Brink Once upon a time, there was a worldwide pandemic. While the world’s leaders worked hard to keep people healthy, the government asked everyone to stay in their homes. One woman was doing just that, while also watching the news and praying. During the first week at home, she heard a knock at the door. From a window, she saw who it was: Anxiety. She wasn’t surprised to see him. He knocked often. She sighed, then opened the door. “Hello, I’m here! Let me in, won’t you? This pandemic is crazy, right? We have so much to process

August 15, 2020

‘I Will Bring You Back’

Lessons from the Babylonian Captivity for Modern-Day ‘Exiles’ By Arron Chambers During this pandemic, quarantine, and sheltering at-home orders, I’ve found myself drawn to Bible stories of liberation and freedom from captivity. We were created to be free—not isolated, alienated, held in captivity, or exiled indefinitely. Even so, such things happen, and it happened to the people of God during a period of 70 years we call the Babylonian captivity. They’d been warned. Warning In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump and a team of doctors gave daily briefings. Day after day they presented numbers and charts

August 15, 2020

A New Pandemic

The Coronavirus Crisis Provided the Church with New Opportunities and Approaches . . . Will We Take Them? By Trevor DeVagewith Mark A. Taylor Ask the typical Bible study group, “How are Christians like us persecuted today?” and you usually get blank stares. Some might remember being bullied at school or ignored by the party crowd at college. Maybe one will tell about being disowned by her family when she decided to get baptized. You might even come across someone who got fired because he wouldn’t lie for his boss. But more often Christians in America apply Bible passages about

August 15, 2020

‘The God Who Provides’

What Israel’s Wilderness Wandering Reveals . . . Especially During Challenging Times By Kevin Dooley Oh, to have been numbered among the more than 2 million Israelites delivered from captivity in Egypt once the final plague broke Pharaoh’s resolve. What a thrill to have passed on dry ground between the columns of the Red Sea, and then to have witnessed the end of Pharaoh’s might as the waters closed in on his armies (Exodus 15:1-21). The spectacle that was Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and the ensuing 40 years of wandering in the wilderness surely was “breaking news” across every culture

August 10, 2020

Go and Sin No More

By Stuart Powell John 8 tells of an unnamed woman caught in adultery. The Jewish leaders presented the woman to Jesus and asked what he considered an appropriate punishment. There is little doubt the teachers of the law and Pharisees had already condemned this sinner. By presenting her before Jesus, they sought to expose how his compassion stood at odds with the Law of Moses. Without realizing it, they brought the guilty one before God’s anointed judge of all mankind. Jesus spoke first to the accusers by confronting them with the universal human condition of sin. He allowed that shame

August 3, 2020

Building God’s House

By Stuart Powell During the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem, Solomon received a message from Yahweh God: As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel (1 Kings 6:11-13). David designed the temple, Solomon built it, but God conceived the faith upon which Solomon’s temple stood. That temple in Jerusalem was one of a multitude built throughout

July 27, 2020

A Powerful Death

By Stuart Powell In his description of Good Friday, Matthew shared details about three events that corresponded with the time of Jesus’ death: At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matthew 27:51-53). Why do we spend so little time pondering these three acts of God—the torn curtain,

July 20, 2020