Category: Bible Commentary

Repenting For Nothing

Princess Tamatori retrieves a precious pearl from the Dragon King in this illustration of the medieval tale Taishokkan. (Vignette from The Great Woven Cap, Edo Period (1615-1868) Japan, Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

No one wants to be like a dragon. That is, we don’t admit – at least publicly – that a dragon is our role model. But then, did we ever stop to think how closely our most precious thoughts, desires, and dreams might resemble those of a dragon?

Job 13:15-16, 41:1-34, 42:5-6; Isaiah 14:12-15, 27:1; 53:1-12; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Philippians 2:1-11; Hebrews 5:8-8; Revelation 12:1-17

Click here to listen to the podcast: Repenting For Nothing

Click here to download the transcript: Repenting For Nothing.pdf

Music: “”Finlandia,” Jean Sibelius, Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jean Sibelius: Symphonies No. 5, 6, & 7 Tone Poems, IndieBlu Music 2003.

What We Shall Be

BFB210717 International Space Station
As the International Space Station orbits the earth (top), crew members Shane Kimbrough (USA) and Thomas Pesquet (France) work to install new roll out solar arrays (bottom). (NASA photo, 2021)

We know the Kingdom of Heaven exists for eternity, but we don’t know much about it yet. However, that hasn’t stopped us from trying to figure our who will be there – or who won’t be there. Maybe a better use of our time and energy would be getting to know the Eternal King and living in such a way that others would want to know Him as well.

Ezekiel 11:14-21; Matthew 15:24, 23:13; John 10:11-18; Galatians 3:28-29; Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 John 3:1-3

Click here to listen to the podcast: What We Shall Be

Click here to download the transcript: What We Shall Be.pdf

Music: “Ice Station Zebra Overture,” Michel Legrand, Movie Themes From The Past, Soundtrack Classics, 2012.

Respecting The Name

High Priest of Israel
“The High Priest of Israel,” illustration from The Jewish Tabernacle and Priesthood, George C. Needham, Library of Congress, 1874.

Do we believe the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable? If we do, then we should have no problem believing that promises and blessings He has bestowed from time immemorial are still in effect. But what does that mean in connection with reconciling estranged parts of our Creator’s Covenant family?

Exodus 20:7; Numbers 6:22-27; Jeremiah 31:31-37, 46:27-28; Ezekiel 39:25-29; Luke 22:19-20; Galatians 3:29

Click here to listen to the podcast: Respecting The Name

Click here to download the transcript: Respecting The Name.pdf

Music: “The Blessing Live,” Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, Graves Into Gardens Live, Elevation Worship 2020. Hear the complete song at Elevation Worship.

There’s No Place Like Home

Ruby Slippers from the 1939 MGM classic, The Wizard of Oz, on display at Smithsonian American History Museum, Washington, DC. (Photo by RadioFan (talk), October 6, 2009, via Wikimedia Commons.) 

If life is a journey, what is the destination? Why is the road so rough, with so many twists and turns? And why are we powerless to overcome the perils along the way? Or are we really powerless to deliver ourselves from the dire circumstances of life?

Exodus 14:10-18; Deuteronomy 10:16; Ezekiel 36:24-28; Matthew 14:13-20; Luke 22:19-20

Click here to listen to the podcast: There’s No Place Like Home

Click here to download the transcript: There’s No Place Like Home.pdf

Music: “The Wizard of Oz (Overture),” The Orchestra of the Film, 50 Original Film Soundtracks, Great Moments & Overtures, Vintage Music 2012.

The Echo of Eternity

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Eddie Balchowsky in 1937 as a volunteer of the Spanish Republic’s Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. (Photo via The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives.)

Bad things happen even to good people, and good things happen even to bad people. It’s futile to try to figure this out, but the struggle of life is hardly futile in the greater context of eternity.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, 3:11-14, 12:1; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 5:7-10

Click here to listen to the podcast: The Echo of Eternity

Click here to download the transcript: The Echo of Eternity.pdf

Music: “He Went to Paris,” Jimmy Buffet, Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads, MCA Records 1992. Listen to the song at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwaqJOsm9Lk.