In seminary, I took a Bible class that was simply titled “Romans.”  If you know anything about Romans, you know that Romans can be one of the most theologically complex books in the New Testament (some even say the whole Bible). I thoroughly enjoyed the class and all of our discussions, but I was not looking forward to finals week. When that fateful week arrived, our instructor told us we only nee...

The Book of Acts begins by dropping the reader right into the middle of a teaching session that Jesus was conducting with His Apostles. It is apparent that the Apostles were not satisfied with knowing about the kingdom; they were obsessed with knowing when it was to come.  Notice how verse six , of chapter 1, shows their persistence, “they kept asking Him, has the time come…” (NLT). Undoubtedly, t...

The gospel of John presented Jesus in multiple ways compared to the synoptics. John shared his eyewitness account (the last three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry) and seems to ignore much of what Matthew, Mark, and Luke described. Why is John’s gospel so different? For instance:“Jesus’ genealogyan account of our Lord’s birthany events in our Lord’s childhoodour Lord’s baptismour Lord’s temptat...

Have you ever wondered why there is a blank page in your Bible that separates the Old Testament from the New Testament? Most assume it is just a simple, bookish way to show separation between the Old and the New. But should we show a separation? The Bible is one grand narrative of God’s redemption and reconciliation of mankind collated into two volumes. Since both Testaments are part of God’s gran...

Jesus: Servant, Son of Man, King!Congratulations! You have completed reading the Old Testament in your Rooted Bible Reading Plan for 2025. We now move on to the New Testament and begin with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.We might consider Matthew, Mark, and Luke the first evangelists, who used similar accounts and often used the same language in their gospel writings. I find it interesting...

Jesus, the changing colors of autumn, and the collision of the Old and New Testaments are just a few of my favorite things.Before I go on with this, let me back up for a minute. Recently, Pastor Jeremy mentioned that Isaiah was the favorite prophet of the Gospel writers. Since one of my favorite things about the Bible is that it is, from start to finish, the narrative of Jesus Christ, Jeremy’s sta...

“Come, return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now He will heal us. He has injured us; now He will bandage our wounds. In just a short time He will restore us, so that we may live in His presence. Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of the dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” Hosea 6:1-3I recently did a Bible s...

1. Was every prophet divinely called into service by God?Unlike the office of the priesthood, which was ancestry-based (you needed to be a descendant of Aaron), the office of the prophet was a divinely appointed call. Well-known prophets, such as Moses, Samuel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, or Isaiah, were called into service through a dream or vision, which we have a written account of in Scripture. The cal...

The book of Isaiah stands out as a rich and majestic masterpiece of messages from God to His chosen people, unveiling His holiness, judgment, compassion, and faithfulness. Readers often find themselves drawn into the convicting messages and vivid prophecies handed down by God through the prophet Isaiah. For over 2,500 years, believers have been challenged by the message of Isaiah, comforted by its...

How lonely sits the cityThat was full of people!How like a widow is she,Who was great among the nations!The princess among the provincesHas become a slave!She weeps bitterly in the night,Her tears are on her cheeks;Among all her loversShe has none to comfort her.All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies.Judah has gone into captivity,Under affliction and hard se...