Behold, is a good one word to sum up advent. Behold, meaning to look intently and see what’s going on. It’s a word used when announcing Jesus’s arrival. It’s a word used when describing all that he would accomplish in his living, dying and rising...

Christmas is the story of how God, our Father in Heaven, loves us enough to send his Son. The one who shares both God’s nature and ours, who comes to rescue his people from their sins. Jesus wasn’t an economist, an entertainer, a politician or a...

Matthew’s genealogy is a good passage for Advent because in these Sundays before Christmas we’re looking back in wonder at Christ’s coming. We’re also looking forward in anticipation to his return when he’ll deliver us from our exiled state. Advent...

As we turn to the final chapter in the book of Habakkuk we notice right away that there’s a significant shift in tone and structure. The prophet is no longer lamenting, he’s singing. He’s worked through his crisis of faith and is concluding with a...

A rich and influential tax collector does not run and climb trees if he truly believes he has it all. After a conversation with Jesus, Zacchaeus is a changed man. Jesus accepts us as we are, but He doesn't leave us where we are.

The dialogue in this Old Testament book begins with Habakkuk’s complaints and questions about God’s silence. And, yes, for a time he was seemingly silent. But then when God shows up in a recognized way it becomes really clear that isn’t idle or...

After another round of lamenting Habakkuk positions himself in the watchtower to wait for God’s answer to his complaining. This symbolic move is an act of faith as he waits patiently on God. He prays while struggling. He wrestles in prayer while being...

Habakkuk is unhappy with God. He’s complained to him about how bad things have gotten among his people and in this study, we hear God’s baffling answer for Habakkuk. He too is troubled by how terrible his people have become. He’s so upset by what’s...

Habakkuk is perplexed. What’s troubling him is that it seems like God, Yahweh, has stopped taking any interest in his covenant people. Now, Habakkuk knows that his people have rebelled and done evil in Yahweh’s eyes. In part, this is what weighs so...

In this introduction to Old Testament prophecy and the minor prophet, Habakkuk, we hear how this 2700 year-old-book rings with contemporary relevance. Habakkuk, this faithful follower of the Lord, is perplexed by life as he sees it. In his day...