Few topics in Christian circles generate more confusion than generational curses. Some believers live in fear of patterns inherited from ancestors they never met. Others dismiss the concept entirely as superstition dressed in biblical language. Both reactions miss the full picture. The Bible does address what happens when sin moves through family lines across generations. … Read more
It is Easter morning. Mary Magdalene has just mistaken Jesus for the gardener. He says her name. She recognizes him instantly, and her response is immediate and completely human: she grabs hold of him and will not let go. What Jesus says next has puzzled readers, translators, and scholars for two thousand years. “Jesus said … Read more
The version of yourself that other people see is incomplete. The version you see in your own mind, shaped by your worst moments and harshest critics, is even less reliable. The only perspective that sees you completely, accurately, and without distortion is the perspective of God. And God, unlike every other judge you have ever … Read more
Christians ask this question in every season of life. When a marriage is at a crossroads. When a career decision cannot be delayed any longer. When a door closes that was supposed to stay open. When a door opens that was never expected. The Bible does not promise a GPS voice that announces each turn. … Read more
Abner, son of Ner, is not one of the Bible’s celebrated heroes. He does not have a book named after him, and he does not appear in the great lists of the faithful. But his story, told across the books of First and Second Samuel, is one of the most instructive biographical sketches in all … Read more
Genesis 9:20–27 is one of the most puzzling and most misused passages in the entire Bible. A man gets drunk. His son sees him and tells his brothers. The brothers walk in backward to cover their father without looking at him. Noah wakes up and pronounces a curse, not on the son who offended him, … Read more
John 4 contains the longest recorded conversation Jesus had with any individual in the Gospels. His partner in that conversation was someone the world of his day would never have expected: a Samaritan woman, alone at a well at noon, carrying the weight of a complicated personal history. What unfolds between them is not simply … Read more
Proverbs 10:8 contains two characters, and it says almost nothing about either of them. That is the genius of the form. In one short statement, Solomon places two human types side by side and lets the contrast do all the work. “The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.” (Proverbs … Read more
The question of alcohol is one that Christians have debated for centuries, and the debate often generates more heat than light. Part of the problem is that people on every side of the conversation tend to read selectively. Those who argue that any drinking is sinful often skip the positive statements about wine in the … Read more
Open a King James Bible to John 5 and you will find a verse 4. Open a NIV, ESV, or NLT to the same place and the chapter moves directly from verse 3 to verse 5. The verse numbers skip, the text flows on, and for anyone who notices, the immediate question is obvious: who … Read more