The Parable of the Soils Part 4 – Thorny Soil

Every farmer knows that harvest is reduced by weeds which compete with the crop for sunlight, nutrition, and water. If there is no intervention, weeds can reduce yield by about 28% according to a brief internet search. Soil is well prepared by farmers for planting: its well tilled, fertilized, and has the right amount of …

Kingdom against kingdom Part 4 – Final Observations

This is the final post about the Gadarene incident. My purpose here is to summarize some key points that I would recommend all believers internalize. Why? Because there is a resurgence of paganism throughout the world along with a suppression of the Word of God – just as prophesied thousands of years ago. The first …

Kingdom against kingdom Part 1- Our Ongoing Supernatural War

The scriptures are full of the supernatural. The bible is an historical account of supernatural activity of the unseen realm interacting with the natural, physical realm, manifesting in ways people can perceive. But are these biblical accounts just for our edification in Sunday school? Or is there something more we need to understand, something more …

The Woman at the Well – Chance Encounter or Messianic Mission?  Part 4 – The Rift, the Revelation, and the Reconciliation

The rift, the dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans was explained in a previous post. As stated, it was a source of hatred between the Jews and Samaritans. While there were other factors involved, it boiled down to where you worship God. The Jews contended that Jerusalem is the only place for valid worship …

The Lord’s Prayer and the Kingdom of God – Part 2

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 (KJV) The first post regarding this prayer was about the bigger picture priorities in prayer: worship of God and praying for his kingdom to come and his will to be done upon the earth. Christian prayer should always begin with these priorities. In my experience as …

The Woman at the Well – Chance Encounter or Messianic Mission? Part 1 – The Location

A few years ago, I was asked by my home church leader to lead a study on John 4. I’ve read John 4 many times. It’s a short story about an apparent random encounter between the Lord and a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. As I prepared for the bible study, what I found in …

The Lord’s Prayer and the Kingdom of God – Part 1

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (KJV) The Lord’s prayer is the model he gave us for how we are to pray. It’s our prayer. Here is the text of the prayer: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed …

The resurrection under attack… again

Over the past week, I was shocked at the anti resurrection tone of the media. I mean, this is holy week for Christians and it was always, as I recall, a time when the resurrection of Jesus Christ was front and center. I don’t ever recall a time in which there was a lack of …

The Books Will be Opened

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and  books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. Rev 20:12 This passage in the Book of …

The Supernatural Ministry of Jesus

The world of the first century was filled with paganism. Idolatry and veneration of the dead were common practice in the ancient world since the earliest times of the bible following Genesis 3. The world of the intertestamental time was filled with all kinds of deities: the Roman pantheon, the Greek pantheon, the ancient deities …