Colored Royal Coats Jesus wore a royal coat of many colors. This is what we discover when we begin to observe and understand the Bible from a canonical perspective. For example, from a canonical perspective, the life of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, who is hated and rejected by his own family, is massively messianic. From beginning to end, the narrative of Joseph is drenched with events, words, activities, and patterns, that foreshadow and anticipate the life of King Jesus, the beloved son of the Father, also hated and rejected by his own family. What happened to Joseph, happens again to ..read more

Dr. Robert L. Cole will be our guest expositor at our Good Friday worship service (today, 29 March 2024) and at our Resurrection Sunday Morning Service, 10:30 am, 31 March 2024. Dr. Cole (BA, MDiv, ThM, MA, PhD), is an author of books, monographs and articles, and has taught Hebrew Bible, Aramaic, and related subjects in English and Spanish for over 20 years. He has taught at multiple seminaries and colleges in Central and North America. He will show from the Hebrew Bible that Psalms 22 (which Jesus quoted from wile hanging on the cross, Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34) and Psalms 23, are not independ ..read more

The seal was unbroken for centuries. But on 26 November 1922, Howard Carter broke the seal. The discovery of the tomb of King Tut (Egyptian Pharaoh, Tutankhamun) by archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, sent waves of excitement throughout the world. Though other archaeological digs had been undertaken throughout the same basic area, most Egyptian tombs had been looted, leaving them stripped bare of their artifacts. Tut’s tomb, in contrast, had been covered by debris and rubble, keeping the seal intact, just the way it was left by the Egyptian-tombst ..read more

During the Christmas season, we hear a few Old Testament verses quoted which point ahead to the birth of Jesus Christ: Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 9:6, 7:14; Micah 5:2. These references do indeed look ahead to the promised Messiah. But are these the only places we can turn to find support for the long-awaited entrance of Jesus Messiah? If so, it feels very much like looking for a needle in a haystack. In this Christmas blog, I will look at the haystack itself and forgo the needle. The haystack, that is, the “Old Testament,”[1] is packed with reminders of the future Messiah. But the haystack has been ..read more

What does God say about the unborn? What is His view of the status of children still in utero? Where in Scripture can we turn to find answers? We might be disappointed to discover that the word “abortion” cannot be found in our Bibles. But this absence is not a dead-end road in the discussion. God has revealed His views about the status of the unborn. A canonical approach to Scripture brings the controversial issue into the clear light where we can see it plainly. Together, let’s examine some of the evidence. God the Creator is Portrayed as a Potter: He Fashions Us  We need to start at t ..read more

I enjoy the aroma of meat being grilled and the smell of smoke from burning cedar logs in our fireplace during the winter season. But without a nose, one of our key senses, the aroma of sizzling pork chops or freshly-split cedar logs would remain undetectable. The nose is a non-negotiable. It makes the enjoyment possible.  If Israel’s God could smell the pleasing aroma of the burning meat sacrifices offered up to Him in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, doesn’t that suggest He possessed a body-part that could smell? How could an invisible God without a body or nose smell the aroma of sacri ..read more

I long resisted having to use reading glasses. But the time came when fine print on a page was just too blurry for me to read. So, quite reluctantly, it was off to visit the eye-doctor. The smallest font of letters and numbers on the eye-test shown on the wall used to be no sweat for me to read. But now, those same letters were too fuzzy for me to read. My eyes needed assistance. One eye remained at 20/20, but the other one failed to pass muster. So, if I wanted to read the small print with clarity, I had to use reading glasses. Ugh. So, today, I have two pairs of reading glasses. One for read ..read more

One of the most challenging - even troubling - issues Christians face today are the accounts of “genocide” done in the name of the God of Israel. The TaNaKh (the Old Testament) contains accounts of herem: the devoting a city and its citizens to destruction. The well-known Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT) defines the Hebrew term herem “in war, consecrate a city and its inhabitants to destruction; carry out this destruction; totally annihilate a population in war.” [1] We see this definition played out to some extent in the Pentateuch and to a larger extent in the book of Joshu ..read more

If a man or woman is known for their great acts of love for people throughout life, either in acts of charity or the sacrifice of time, energy, even health, is God obligated to grant them forgiveness of their sins? Do religious works warrant forgiveness from God? Can you earn God’s forgiveness by a life characterized by love for the less fortunate? Recently a taxi-cab driver in Columbia, South Carolina told me that, if he wanted to go to heaven, he would need to do a great deal of good things in his life. His religion taught that the road to heaven required great acts of charity. But even then ..read more

Without asking for our permission, God may appoint us or certain of our children to become leaders in His kingdom. And we can be sure, that if He marks us out, or marks them out for future leadership, He also will send us or them to the school of suffering. Future leaders in God’s kingdom will undergo unjust pain as part of the curriculum to prepare them to lead. It’s a pattern you can trace in Scripture. Let’s recall a few.   Examples of Leaders Who Suffered   Jesus, the beloved Son of the Father, and Lord of the Church, was marked out for suffering early in life (Mark 1:11; 12:8 ..read more