In light of current events, it is often times difficult to believe that Jesus is, in fact, in control. The mobilization of militant Islam, the quagmire of American politics and international relations, unending wars and threats of wars, the...
(I was blocked out of my own account because of security adjustments made by one of my plugins. Sorry for the blackout!) Growing up in south Jersey I had access to some of the best Italian food on the planet. Even though my family isn’t Italian, we...
Psalm 113 is the first psalm in a six-psalm collection called the “Egyptian Hallel” (113–118). It is tradition for Jews to recite (or sing) these six psalms around the time of Passover to commemorate the deliverance from Egyptian slavery. This...
There is never a moment when God doesn’t have a plan. This is true both in the big picture, as well as the small. God has a plan for the course of events in history, and God has a plan for the gritty details of each of our lives. Political crisis...
This is from my lovely wife. We are over in the Dominican Republic for a few days, where the tourism industry actually makes a night or two away far cheaper than a night or two away in Haiti. The internet is as poor as our Spanish, the food as...
God is in the business of separating Christians from the world. Normally we focus our thinking on God’s unifying work. The Apostle Paul has quite a bit to say about the unity of believers in the sacrificial death and miraculous resurrection of...
(This is from my wife’s blog (mshaiti.blogspot.com). I thought I would share for TIS readers.) I’ve got goosebumps. This is good. On Wednesday during the Academic Convocation, I was walking around the front of the chapel, trying to get...
In the opening chapters of 1 Samuel we find the story of a struggling family. Don’t you love, by the way, that the heroes in the Bible are the ones who struggle, the ones whose lives are messy? He came for the sick. What’s particularly noteworthy...
Psalm 1 answers a very simple question, “How can one be happy?” (the Hebrew word translated “blessed” in most English translations in Psalm 1:1 is “asher” which means “happy”). The first thing the psalmist does in answering that question is talk...
Romans 1:1–6 reads: 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, who was descended from David according to...