Painful trials have a way of testing our coping strategies. The Book of Job introduces a man whose suffering included unimaginable financial devastation, unrelenting physical pain, and the tragic loss of his children. His story helps us to see the limitations of some of our usual responses and gives us more effective means of relief.
In one of the wealthiest eras in history, our attitudes about money often reflect scarcity instead of generosity. This post explores common beliefs about giving that would baffle the early church and challenges us to embrace their faith-filled perspective.
I thought I had strong convictions. I learned that many of my beliefs were borrowed from other people and hadn’t been tested, applied, or internalized. I’ve come to recognize the cheaper substitutes to convictions that we often mistake for the real thing. As you consider them, decide whether your own beliefs are truly rooted or just borrowed.
God’s forgiveness is complete, but it doesn’t erase every consequence of sin. Exploring the guilt offering in the Book of Leviticus reveals how God’s grace calls us to confess, repent, and take action to restore what our sins have broken.
Stress at work, problems with kids, and our mental health push us to look for peace in different ways. But the instructions for the Peace Offering in the Book of Leviticus teach us to confess, connect, and celebrate in order to experience lasting peace.
The grain offering of Leviticus teaches us how to respond to the love and forgiveness of God. It pictures an ancient act of devotion that shows how God delights in sincere expressions of love, no matter how simple.
Desperate for acceptance, I went to wild lengths in university to fit in. Years later, Leviticus, a book many avoid, transformed how I viewed acceptance. The background of a sacrifice called a sin offering reveals a deeper, lasting acceptance from God that goes beyond masks and striving.
Everybody knows the command to honour your father and your mother, and Jesus called us to love our enemies. But what if our enemy is also our abuser? What if the parent we’re called to honour is mistreating or exploiting us? Some say the Christian response is to turn the other cheek. Others follow the recent explosion in articles advocating that you cut off all the toxic people in your life. The biblical tension is somewhere in between.
Maybe starting a Zoom group in the first century wasn’t an option technologically, but there’s value in considering what would have been lost if Jesus had chosen to mentor His disciples online instead of in-person.
The King James Version is a good translation that's stood the test of time. But how should we understand the many modern translations that have been released in recent years? Are they more reliable or have they corrupted the Word of God?
