A Pattern of Opposition
Read: Ezra 4:1-16 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. (v. 4) The apostle Peter reminds us, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). Still, we […]
A Place to Begin Again
Read: Ezra 3 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping. (v. 13) In many ways, we are still dealing with the impact of the Covid pandemic. While schools, churches, and businesses have reopened, we’ve found that some things will never return to what they once […]
A Proclamation from the King
Read: Ezra 1 The exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. (v. 11) Exiles: those forced to leave their native country—banished from their homes against their will. For the Jews, exile began when, in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and took captives back to resettle throughout the Babylonian empire. This captivity was a […]
Keep Blooming
Read: Colossians 1:15-29 . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory. (v. 27) Our condo has a small piece of dirt, maybe 15 square feet, that’s ours to plant flowers in. My neighbors create breathtaking displays in their little gardens; mine is always an exercise in mediocrity. I have no gardening skills. Last summer I planted […]
Hope in Action
Read: Jeremiah 29:1-14 I know the plans I have for you . . . to give you a future and a hope. (v. 11) Delivering the word of the Lord didn’t make Jeremiah popular. He was beaten and arrested numerous times, put into stocks, and even thrown into a cistern. Despite that, his message after the worst had happened […]
Not Just Me and Jesus
Read: Romans 8:18-30 Who hopes for what he sees? (v. 24) It’s important that our faith and hope are personal. But it’s a mistake if our faith and hope are only personal. Christian hope is not just “I get to go to heaven when I die.” Christian hope is much larger than that. Our ultimate hope […]
Hope Dances!
Read: 1 Corinthians 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. (v. 13) Theologians use the fancy word perichoresis to describe how the three persons of the Trinity relate to each other. A common definition of that complex word is, “A doctrine of reciprocal inherence.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t say things […]
Helambu Sherpa Language
Words of Hope Nepal is introducing a new broadcast program in the Helambu Sherpa language. Words of Hope’s Nepali ministry director first met a Sherpa pastor in 2013 while visiting the Himalayan region for ministry. The Sherpa pastor shared his own incredible conversion story. How he had gone from being apprenticed to a shaman to […]
False Hope
Read: Psalm 146 Happy are those . . . whose hope is in the Lord their God. (v. 5 NRSV) I wrote in our previous reading about trusting our physicians but not putting our hope in medicine. I want to widen the lens today and ask, “What (or who) else do we trust that we should not put […]