Bloodlines Continued Last week we spoke of King David’s huge mistake in sleeping with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Again, that whole sorry episode is told in 2 Samuel 11-12. However, today I need to back up to 2 Samuel 7. This is the passage which records the covenant God made with David because of his great faith. Flawed and capable of terrible evil as he was, David’s faith was the most important thing to God. This “Davidic Covenant,” as it is called for obvious reasons, co

The Lost Art of Seeing Our Neighbors I live in a culturally diverse neighborhood. In fact, the people on either side of me are Spanish, while behind me is an African American neighborhood. Caucasians like me are interspersed throughout. You see, the tiny town in which I live (only called a “town” because it has its own tiny post office), is very old. While we are considered a satellite community, one of several, which surround a larger town, my little community was settl

Bloodlines Initial Groundwork to Set the Stage For those who may not be familiar with the layout of the Bible, it will serve you well, as we go through it, to understand a few rules of thumb as to the focus of all those 66 books that make up the whole of the Scriptures. 1) The 39 books of the Old Testament, each in their own unique way, point toward the Messiah who would eventually come and right the wrongs that came as a result of the “Fall” in the Garden of Eden

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2 Okay, so you’re probably wondering what the picture of that carved rock depicting a man on a dinosaur has to do with the verse quoted above. There is a connection, I promise. However, it will take some time to unpack. To be honest, I had planned on writing something co

This being my very first blog post, I figured I'd start from the...well...the start. I know that, at least to most, I'm a new acquaintance, and hopefully in the near future, a friend. Therefore, let's begin by getting to know each other. You have no way of knowing this, but I'm laughing to myself about how cheesy that last sentence was! Let's face the facts; this is a pretty one-sided conversation! While I look forward to getting your thoughts and comments as this blog grows

In this section, we will dive a little deeper into the Bible. I have found that a lot of theological ground can be covered if I work my way through a book of the Bible, verse-by-verse. Better stated, we will actually go passage-by-passage, bringing clarity to many of the archaic or mysterious phrases, customs, and word usages which tend to make the Bible so hard to understand. Have you ever watched an old "Leave it to Beaver" episode and snickered at Wally or the Beave w