"The name Hosea not only means ‘salvation’ but can also mean ‘deliverance’. This is fitting since the prophet Hosea was a dynamic writer and minister of the Word of God. No matter what came his way, or how bad it may have looked at times, Hosea’s life was wholly dedicated to following what God sa...

"This world is in a mess! There seems to be very little that one can find that is good. This can be depressing, unless we look to God and His nature. Remember: God is good all the time and all the time God is good. During the time of Hosea, the people of Israel were lost in their own ideas of gre...

"Often the visions God gave to His prophets were about a coming event or a projection of the future. The Minor Prophets are called the Book of the Twelve in Hebrew, and record many visions that speak to us now. One example is a vision that Amos witnessed when he saw a basket of summer fruit. The ...

"Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament of the Bible, yet it carries a very strong message. God’s words to the prophets do not have to be long to convey their weight. The nation of Edom or the Edomites, were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Details are given in Genesis 25 thr...

"It is a difficult thing to describe the nature and actions of God, and it is very easy to misunderstand them. Some people have this problem understanding the passage of Scripture in Jonah 3 where some translations say that God changed His mind and did not destroy Nineveh. If God knows all, how c...

"Nothing quite captures the imagination like trying to envision time travel. I personally can’t think of it without my mind wandering to the Back to the Future movie series! Of course, we can speculate about time travel all we want and not be sure, since we do not have the ability to manipulate t...

"As we seek truth, we discover that there are many versions of it. But is there a truth that is objective? Is there something that is always true, no matter what anyone thinks about it? The answer to that question is YES! Even if we don’t accept that truth is objective, it remains true. We can’t ...

"Zephaniah’s genealogy listed in 1:1, suggests he was of royal lineage – four generations back to Hezekiah. Zephaniah prophesied sometime between 640 and 612 BC, the time when King Josiah reigned in Jerusalem. The book begins with a condemnation because of the corruption of the people and systems...

"Haggai lived in the time after the Babylonian exile. It was a time in which the people of God had forgotten their priorities. They had returned to Jerusalem from exile under the direction of the Persian King Cyrus. Their assignment was to refurbish the city, rebuild the Temple, and make it the p...

"The book of Zechariah clearly demonstrates the prophet’s ability to see and hear from God. His message was both encouraging and challenging. His central concern was the covenant between the LORD and His people. Some scholars believe that Zechariah is the most ‘Messianic’ of the prophets because ...

"The name “Jerusalem” means city of peace. Though this name might seem ironic for us today, thanks to decades of political turmoil, Jerusalem is still the most mentioned city in the Bible. It is first mentioned in Genesis as the city of Salem when Abraham tithes his spoils of war to the priest ki...

"Culture clashes, political turmoil, conspiracies, plots, and warfare. Is it possible for the eight billion people of the world to get along? Looking around at the state of the world makes us ask the questions: Why is there so much conflict? What does this say about human nature? How do we stop t...

"The book of Matthew is the perfect link between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. It appears to be written for and from a Jewish perspective, explaining what happened during Jesus’ time and showing that He was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Many of the Old Testament prophets h...

"The disciples of Jesus were interesting men. It seems that most of them did not have much of a connection with those in the high priesthood or other religious leadership of the day. They were not trained scholars or scribes. The disciples that Jesus called to Himself were regular men who worked ...

"One of the greatest ways Jesus Christ showed Himself as God was through His teaching. There are three things we can learn by reading the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-20. The first is how we treat each other. Many call it the golden rule: What you desire men to do to you, do for them. The second...

"The Holy Spirit of God is His presence. When someone you love dies in the flesh you know they are gone because their presence is no longer there, their spirit is gone. Paul the apostle speaks about being absent from the body and being present with the LORD. Our bodies are a kind of transformer f...

"Many times, Jesus used parables to explain truth. A parable is a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. Jesus taught in parables to instruct those who were willing to hear and believe, and to conceal the truth from those who woul...

"Religious people take their religious ideas, wrap them up in their religious thinking and often try to back God into a corner. There was no difference with the people in Judah at the time of Jesus Christ. They were desperate to prove that Jesus was not the Messiah. They expected the arrival of M...

"Two great Biblical debates swirl around what the Bible means when it describes the beginning of time and the end of time. To clarify, by the end of time I mean the apocalyptic literature of the Bible that describes the return of Christ, His reign, God’s judgment, and the New Heavens and New Eart...

"Jesus Christ was near the end of His ministry on Earth. When He approached Gethsemane, a garden where they had often gathered together, Jesus called His disciples to pray with Him. They must have been tired, but Jesus was insistent that they pray. Matthew, chapter 26, reveals the sorrow of Jesus...

"As we reflect on the ministry of Christ, it is undeniable that much happened on and before the cross of Jesus Christ. One of the points for us to highlight is the way the military of that day ridiculed and mocked Jesus during His trial and crucifixion. Also, the religious leaders took their turn...

"One of the more fascinating things I find in today's world is the ongoing discussion people have about Jesus. Some claim that Jesus didn’t really exist, others claim that followers of Jesus made an icon and that when He died, they faked a resurrection to immortalize their cause. On the other sid...