I am of the conviction that we should, as much as we can, have reasons for everything we do as a church. This includes having reasons why your sanctuary is set up the way it is, such as the position of the pulpit, the communion elements, and the like. Everything symbolizes your beliefs, or lack […]
bible
Favor with God
In Genesis 34 there is a young man named Shechem who rapes Jacob’s daughter, Dinah. It is a terrible thing. Strangely, Shechem falls in love with Dinah, the girl he most certainly did not love while he was taking advantage of her. In love as he is, Shechem goes to Jacob to seek Dinah’s hand […]
The Spectacles of Scripture
One of the greatest conundrums in the history of our world is that the creator of the universe is so evident, and yet his creation is so oblivious. The heavens declare the glory of God, yet the created beings declare the glory of absence. Rather than seeing the evident common grace of God in every […]
A Gospel Application from Genesis 34
Genesis 34 is a dark and difficult chapter in Jacob and his family’s life. To begin the chapter, Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is raped. As the story unfolds, the young man, Shechem, who took advantage of Dinah, ends up wanting to marry her. Dinah’s brothers who are justifiably outraged, deceitfully strike a deal with people of […]
The Divine Wrestler
The latter portion of Genesis 32 contains the event of Jacob wrestling with God. It is a Sunday school story those of us who grew up in church know, but not one we understand. While it is what we might call a “cool” story it often leaves us a bit puzzled. I think one of […]