“And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” - Jonah 4:11Though Nineveh was a great city, its people had wandered far from God. Jonah didn’t care much about that, though, because Nineveh’s people were enemies of his own people. Still, God was c...  Read More

“Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9As we left off last Sunday, after three days in the sour belly of a fish, Jonah is vomited onto dry land. God gave him a second chance. Then God calls Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh about a second chance. This time, however, Jonah obeys and he begins to preach.But did you e...  Read More

Have you ever been in a precarious position? What is the posture you assumed in those moments? Triumph?! Hopefulness?! Despair?! Have you ever viewed that precarious position as a picture of God’s grace? Probably not! If we’re anything like Jonah, we cried out in despair: “In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you l...  Read More

We love the story of a good hero; so much so that it’s spawned comics and, TV shows, and movies. For the past decade, the DC and Marvel empires have risen on the backs of many of these superhero blockbusters. Of course, as I once heard someone quip, “The problem with these movies is that everything is at stake, and nothing is at stake.” In other words, the whole world seems to be in peril, but the...  Read More

The story of Ruth is one of the Bible’s great love stories. It overflows with kindness and compassion, and it highlights how God’s people experience His sovereignty and tender mercy as He works through the lives of His people. Just think about what we have seen:As Ruth had shown kindness to her mother-in-law Naomi, (Ruth 1:16-17), so Boaz - a close relative of Naomi - showed kindness to Ruth. Boaz...  Read More

The word redeem means “to buy back.” For Boaz, this meant using his money to buy back a relative’s land and having a child with Ruth to preserve the family name of that relative.Like Ruth, Boaz is a person of noble character. As Ruth clung to Naomi out of respect for her mother-in-law and for the Lord, Boaz clung to the Word of God, recognizing that all honor and praise belong to the Lord. As this...  Read More