Doug Enick's Podcast

We will continue to see the progressive defeat and rolling back of all the powers of darkness as the gospel is faithfully preached and lived out by God’s people, and as we implore him to bless the preaching of the gospel and make it effective through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Paganism, false religion, irreligion, atheism, and indeed every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God will be taken captive to the obedience of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5-6). 

"And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah doesn’t mean that the child to be born would literally be addressed by these names during his life on earth any more than he would be addressed by the name Immanuel (cf. 7:14).  Indeed, we never find Jesus addressed by any of these names in the Gospels, nor should we expect to.  What Isaiah means is that the child to be born would be worthy to be called by these names, that these names would be accurate descriptions of his being and character.

Jesus is Lord.  This is not just a religious conviction that leads to salvation, though it is that; but it’s also more than that.  It’s a confession of the most basic fact of reality.  And it must be the first truth of political philosophy.  Let presidents, senators, and legislators of all kinds; let judges and governors and mayors; let all those who hold office confess that Jesus is Lord; let them confess that the government rests upon his shoulder and that they are to be his humble representatives in the offices they hold. 

Chastened and humbled, Jonah is recommissioned to preach to Nineveh, but is angered by the Lord's mercy toward them.

While still in the belly of the great fish, Jonah offers a faith-filled prayer of thanksgiving for deliverance from danger and death.  

Jonah is called by God to go and preach to the city of Nineveh, the heart of the Assyrian Empire, Israel's formidable and brutal enemy.  

The book of Jonah extols the great mercy of God and urges us as his people to desire mercy for others—even our enemies. 

The message of the Minor Prophets is amazingly relevant for modern times.  They addressed the prominent issues of their day in ways that are very instructive for us today, because the issues themselves are still with us.