“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him (Matthew 21:28-32).

In the mind of a first century Jew, prostitutes and tax collectors were the worst sinners in the world. They were the outcasts, the rodents of society. Things haven’t changed much in our time. Prostitution, in the minds of most, ranks among the greatest of disrespectable sins. But Jesus had some shocking words for the respected individuals of his time: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” (more…)

A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless (Tim Keller, The Reason for God xvii).

I have struggled with much of my own doubt. Doubt is painful. It blinds your eyes to Christ, and it robs you of your joy. It causes you to question God. It makes the small joys sin offers seem great (Genesis 3:1-6). However, as painful as it has been, and as much as I have stumbled in the midst of doubt, I am glad for much of it. When Jesus predicted Peter’s faithlessness, he commanded him, “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). I have learned invaluable lessons through some of my hardest nights. To doubters, from a doubter, here are some of the things I have learned. (more…)

Jesus was a “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3) who told his followers to deny themselves and follow him to Golgotha with crosses on their backs.  He said those who try to save their lives will lose them, but “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). The apostle Paul said, “I die every day!” (1 Corinthians 15:31). The Christian life is a life of death. So for the sake of those who want to lose their lives for Christ, here are 12 ways to die while playing volleyball. (more…)

I put together a timeline to help myself see the lifespans, dates of birth, death, etc. for those in the genealogy of Abraham. Genesis 1-11, I think, are particularly hard chapters to understand. My hope was that getting some numbers down and a visual representation would help. Maybe it will be helpful for someone else as well.  (Note that the dates can easily be off by several years; this basically assumes everyone was born on the first day of the first month of the year.)

An interesting note is that Methuselah seems to have died the year of the flood (from my reading it’s possible he died up to 3 years before the flood, but the most natural reading has him dying in the same year).   According to MacArthur his name indicated the coming flood:

Methuselah has a very interesting name. . . .  The Hebrew means, “man of the shoot,” or “man of the shot out,” or “man of the sending forth.”  . . .  The man identified with something that is sent out, something that is shot out.  So his name signifies that he will not die until judgment is shot out. . . .  Almost every commentary you read on that clearly indicates that Methuselah dies in the year of the flood.  He is the man who will live until the shooting out of the judgment of God.

A second interesting note is that, given the most plain reading of the text, it sounds like Shem was alive when Jacob was born (and Noah and Abraham’s lives overlapped nearly 60 years).

What does it mean to remember God’s faithfulness?  To the Psalmists it not only meant remembering God’s personal faithfulness (Psalm 54:7) but also remembering the legacy of God’s faithfulness to countless others before them.

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old. . . .
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. . . .
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron (Psalm 77).

God has given us a rich history of his faithfulness to take confidence in.