“Love often manifests itself in giving people what they can’t appreciate and don’t want, and in demanding from them
precisely what they most want to retain for themselves.” — Tom
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Monday, April 12, 2021
Anonymous Asks (140)
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Everywhere a Sign
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Mining the Minors: Amos (10)
God doesn’t enjoy punishing people, even when they are unusually wicked. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, preferring that they change their ways and prosper rather than get what is coming to them. This is a well-established principle of scripture; both prophets and apostles testify to the fact that our God lets us off the hook every single time he can possibly justify it.
As the psalmist put it, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
Friday, April 09, 2021
Too Hot to Handle: Spreading the Infection
Thursday, April 08, 2021
Bottom of the Ninth
Wednesday, April 07, 2021
Theological Triage and Hills to Die On
Tuesday, April 06, 2021
Straddling the Fence
Monday, April 05, 2021
Anonymous Asks (139)
Sunday, April 04, 2021
Be Careful What You Wish For
Saturday, April 03, 2021
Mining the Minors: Amos (9)
Actions have consequences. Some things follow inevitably from others. In his third chapter, Amos takes a series of illustrations from the natural world and uses them to demonstrate that when presented with the evidence of one’s eyes and ears, certain conclusions ought to be drawn. He does this by asking seven questions to which every answer is an obvious “No” or “Of course not.”
It may be that the content of the questions is less important than the rhetorical flourish they achieve cumulatively; that each statement is intended to build upon the previous one and together reinforce the certainty of the prophet’s concluding statement. However, when we look at the content of each line more closely in the light of other Old Testament scriptures, it does not seem unreasonable to view them as different ways of illustrating the inevitability of Israel’s coming judgment.