The sum of Ahab’s life is “he did evil in the sight of the Lord.” He worshipped the Baal, the Canaanite god, and rejected Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel, because he wanted the security and prosperity and did not trust God to provide. Similarly, we are drawn to trust things other than God for […]

To what are you devoted?  This week we continue our series in I and II Kings by studying what Solomon, Jeroboam, and Rehoboam were devoted to, and why those objects of devotion divided the Kingdom of Israel.

Solomon, the greatest of Israel’s Kings is also the wisest man in the world. But David, despite his many failings, is called a man after God’s own heart. It is not influence, reputation, brilliance or success in life that matters most, it is a heart for God and finishing well.

Does life matter? Do I matter? The birth of Christ on Christmas invites us to look in the manger and to see the God who loves us and made us and who says to us–yes.

The surprising hesed (lovingkindness) of God brings the story of Ruth to a close. A widow whose life has been so horrible she wants to be identified as Mara (bitter) instead of her given name Naomi (pleasant). But God will not allow her to live into her felt experience. The narrator continues to call her […]

Nearly every character in the Old Testament had flaws and failures–except Ruth and Boaz–two of the central characters in the book of Ruth. They demonstrate “hesed” (loyal lovingkindness) to those around them. In Ruth chapter 3 their stories come together in an evening filled with dramatic tension in which both walk in courageous sacrificial loving […]

Ruth and Naomi are in Bethlehem during the barley harvest. In need of food, Ruth, the young widow goes to “glean” in the fields–collecting what the harvesters do not gather. This is a dangerous endeavor, but Ruth demonstrates loyal lovingkindness to her mother-in-law Naomi, sacrificing her wellbeing for their survival. But, by God’s lovingkindness, she […]

A drama in 4-acts, Ruth tells the story of tragedy and loss, of bitterness and grief and the faithfulness of God to an unlikely outsider of the people of God. Ruth chapter 1 constantly calls from the Lord to his people–return, return, return to me. But God chooses takes a foreign-born widow and daughter-in-law who […]

At the end of Genesis, Jacob, the one who grasped for blessing his whole life, finally rests in the lovingkindness and blessing of God so that he can rightly offer blessings to others–to his sons. He invites us to receive the abundance of God’s blessing in our own life and to freely offer it to […]

Joseph is elevated to Prime Minister of Egypt and implements a massive agriculture production and storage endeavor during 7 years of abundance in order to save Egypt, and his own family, when 7 years of famine struck the world. What does God say about work in Genesis? How does Joseph’s work fit into God’s design? […]