For those who have stuck with the reading, excitement has been really building for this day, the day our reading moves from the Old Testament into the New Testament. Relief. Joy. A sense of homecoming. All of these and more are probably being experienced today. Continue reading Day 68: I thought we finished the OT

Sixty-seven days. That’s how long we’ve been reading through the Old Testament. Tomorrow, we’ll begin the New. For those of you who are behind, or who never started on this journey, tomorrow may be a great day to begin anew with the stories of Jesus. “Read the Bible through in 90 Days” is about to become “Read the New Testament through in 21 Days.” I realize the math doesn’t add up. The reading plan is actually only eighty-eight days. I guess that didn’t sound as catchy to the editors of the program. Whatever the number, would you consider picking up your copy of the Scripture for the next three weeks and reading the New Testament? It could change your life. Continue reading Day 67: Looking forward to tomorrow

I’m an underliner when it comes to reading through my Bible. That is, I like to mark the verses that stand out to me. If you were to glance through the pages of the prophets in my Bible, you would see plenty underlined. Usually, I mark those few verses of promise or hope that sparkle against the dark background of God’s judgment found in the rest of the book. If I’m not careful, I can begin to think of the Bible only in terms of the underlined verses forgetting that the rest of the words in the book have meaning, as well. Continue reading Day 66: Judgment

In the past, communities often viewed faith as the means to interpreting natural disasters for the purpose of reordering life post-catastrophe. When the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 struck, it leveled three-fourths of the city and killed ten to fifteen thousand people. The devastation in Portugal ushered in a continent-wide season of significant theological and moral reflection that eventually toppled governments in France and Germany and gave rise to religious revival in England. While not everyone agreed about what the earthquake meant, almost every person of faith in that day assumed that the earthquake had something significant to teach them. Continue reading Day 65: When Disaster Strikes

Hosea is a tough book to sort out. The chronology of the book is all messed up. The names of people and countries frequently change (Tip: Ephraim is another name for Israel in this book). The premise seems absurd. God commands Hosea, the prophet, to marry a prostitute so he can show the world what it’s like to love an unfaithful spouse. Add to that, the fact that Hosea loves to mix up his metaphors, and you get a book that’s full of imagery and confusion. God gets compared to a hiker, a doctor, a moth, a lion, even dry rot. Continue reading Day 64: Mixing Your Metaphors

What is the value of a person’s name? A few years ago, Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, offered Chicago radio sports-talk host David Kaplan $50,000 to legally change his name to “Dallas Maverick.” When Kaplan politely declined, Cuban sweetened the offer offering him $100,000. He even said he only had to go by “Dallas Maverick” for one year. The reaction from Kaplan’s listening crowd was swift and loud and firmly on the side of taking the money. Kaplan turned Cuban down again. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Kaplan explained: “I’d be saying I’d do anything for money, and that bothers me. My name is my birthright. I’d like to preserve my integrity and credibility.” Continue reading Day 63: Remember Your Name

Every life has them – apparent dead ends. Days when doors shut and no proverbial window opens. When we find ourselves in an apparent dead end and someone asks us what comes next and we scratch our heads and wonder, “Who knows?” If they’re spiritual, they’ll baptize their answer a little “Only God knows.” Ever been there? At a place where the next step isn’t only difficult to take, it’s impossible to imagine? Continue reading Day 62: Only God Knows

It’s difficult to believe that people would actually come and listen to the prophet Ezekiel just for fun. It’s not like he’s the most seeker-sensitive of prophets. I could see people coming to see him in the way people go to see the freak shows at the fair, but I’d hardly describe him as one who “sings love songs with a beautiful voice.” Maybe people liked the sermons in which he declared God’s judgment on Israel’s enemies. That kind of talk always gets plenty of amens. Continue reading Day 61: Listening vs. Doing

Cover to Cover: Ezekiel 11:16-23:11 Key Passage: Ezekiel 22:1-16 Verse of the Day: Ezekiel 22:13-14 Key events in today’s reading: Ezekiel Acts Out the Exile (Ezekiel 12) Two Eagles and a Vine (Ezekiel 17) Prophecy of Judgment and Restoration (Ezekiel 20:30-44) Verse that stood out: “Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will … Continue reading Day 60: Large and Startling Images

That the book of Lamentations even makes it into the Bible seems to give credibility to the fact that in God’s loving-kindness, God gives us room to grieve. Just a surface reading of the book lets us know that for God’s children, it’s ok to cry. Mourning the fall of Jerusalem and the death of many loved ones, the poet writes on tear soaked pages, “My eyes overflow with tears” (1:16) . . . “Bitterly [I] weep at night; tears are upon [my] cheeks” (1:2) . . . “My groans are many and my heart is faint.” Grief and pain pour off his pen. The aching is tangible. Continue reading Day 59: A heart can be broken, but it keeps beating just the same