Kingdom against kingdom Part 3 – The Confrontation

This is the third part of a series on what I call the Gadarene incident – the well known account in the gospels of the deliverance of a man from many demons by Jesus Christ. In this post, I focus on the deliverance itself, but there are some bigger picture things happening in this encounter. …

Kingdom against kingdom Part 2 – The Crossing

Note: this is a re-post of part of the story of Jesus and the disciples as they encountered the demonically possessed man on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The encounter of Jesus with the Gadarene demoniac is one of the most amazing supernatural events in the Bible. What’s interesting about this incident …

The Parable of the Soils – The Key to Understanding God’s Kingdom – Part 1

The central theme of the scriptures is, arguably, the Kingdom of God. Some would say salvation, the redemption of mankind, is the central theme and I would not disagree, but from a big picture standpoint the whole purpose of God’s plan of redemption gets us back to the way things were supposed to be all …

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 2 – The Samaritans

My last post focused on the location of Jacob’s well. This small area around Sychar, known as Shechem in the Old testament, is a “spiritual ground zero” with a rich history going all the way back to Abraham. This post will focus on the history of the Samaritans as a people. Its important to understand …

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 Kings of the New Earth

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, Revelation 21:23-24 Are there any rulers of the …

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 …