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For Andrew
A few months ago, I heard that a childhood friend of mine passed away. His name was Andrew. I met Andrew through his dad, who was one of my leaders in Stockade at my church. For those of you who don’t know, Stockade was the 3rd-6th grade program from Boys’ Brigade, something like a Christian Boy Scouts. It was great time: singing loud songs, camping, playing in the gym, woodworking projects, a pinewood derby, and of course Bible verses, lessons in Christian character, etc. Perhaps I’ll reflect more on that another day. Andrew was half a year younger than me, and because of where his birthday fell, he had been…
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Everything’s New
It was 2018. I was coming out of a low point. Months of struggling at church in 2017 resulted in starting over somewhere new. I was holding my new daughter, who an an infant was already one of the most determined people I knew. I had turned the corner on another big trial, one only my closest friends knew about. And I was listening to the new version of a song from my favorite band which had recently broken up (as all my favorite bands seem to do), performed this time by the band leader by himself. With the song playing on the laptop there in the kitchen, I danced…
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The Power of Memory
When we left the Israelites, God was in the middle of doing something miraculous for them. The chapter breaks in your Bible are not part of the original text; they were a help added later for reference, just like page numbers. But it’s helpful to treat this part of the story separately because even though it’s a continuation of the same miracle, the emphasis is on something completely different: remembering. I confess my performance in Hebrew was not my best, but I do remember a few things from class, and one of them was the importance of memory and remembering in the Old Testament and for the Jewish people. Over…
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Miraculous
Once upon a time, “miraculous” meant just that. Today we more often use it as a synonym for improbable or amazing, if we use it at all. During the Enlightenment in Europe, elites came to think that the physical world was governed by laws that could not be broken—even by God. God was supremely rational, only acting in ways that we would deem rational, ways that fit what nature told us about reality. After philosopher David Hume expressed his skepticism of miracles, we in the West began to think of them differently. Something might be improbable or amazing, but nothing truly miraculous could ever happen. This poses a problem for…
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An Unlikely Hero
I’ve always been proud of my name, and every kid knows the story about the battle of Jericho. I’ve known most of these stories from a young age. And somehow, by God’s grace, the fact that the story prominently features a prostitute didn’t sink in until I was much, much older. But as we continue surveying Joshua, we meet her right away. Her name is Rahab, and she is not only the main character in chapter 2, she’s the hero. Joshua sends spies to scout out the land and gain intel, and she takes them in, hides them, and covers for them. What’s more, she feeds them information: her people…