We’ve just finished celebrating Thanksgiving and now are about to begin the Advent Season culminating in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is an extended season of joy and thanksgiving as we remember the amazingly good gifts of the Lord to us. Giving thanks to the Lord in this season usually comes […]
The cry of my generation seems to be, “Who am I?” We are lost, and we are desperately trying to find out who we are. This generation is one of identity confusion. But my generation is not unique. Adolescence and young adulthood, now and historically, have been characterized by identity crisis. We long to know […]
Exiled near Babylon by the River Chebar, Ezekiel was commissioned by God to proclaim that the locus of God’s presence in Israel, the city of Jerusalem, would be utterly devastated (Ezekiel 3:22–6:14). And growing up in the priestly succession (1:3), Ezekiel would have been quite familiar with the central, most intimate infrastructure that housed God’s […]
I love serving at Bethlehem College & Seminary for many reasons – among them is that I am always learning from my students. Let me share with you some their insights (and a few of mine) from the story of David and Goliath. Perhaps their insights will help you think again about this well-known story, […]
With another election coming up in just a few days, it’s important to put it into its proper perspective. No matter who you’re going to vote for, it’s critical to remember that elections do not ultimately determine our future—God and God alone holds that power. We should by all means participate in the democratic process […]
In a recent web article, Christianity Today highlighted the story of Leah Sharibu, a fifteen-year-old Nigerian girl who, along with 111 other female students at Government Girls’ Science and Technical College Dapchi, was abducted by Boko Haram back in February. Today, eight months later, Sharibu is the only Dapchi girl still in captivity. Six of […]
At Bethlehem College & Seminary, we celebrate that we have an all-sovereign, all-satisfying Triune God. In pain or pleasure, he is working out his purposes for his glory and the good of his people. What peace and what hope we have in knowing that the all-powerful, all-good God is for us in Christ, will right […]
Praise God, the current senior class in the college’s cross-cultural ministry concentration (BATS-CCM) is the largest one we’ve had yet! Joining them are new juniors in the concentration, so that there are now more BATS-CCM students total than at any time before in the brief history of the program. We have 4 women and 9 […]
I spent last semester with John Calvin. That is, during the Spring semester, I had the privilege of reading Calvin’s Institutes and teaching a course on the book to twenty-two Bethlehem College & Seminary undergraduates. It was wonderful. Teaching a course on Calvin is no small task. The Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, after teaching just […]
But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2b In an era of ever-increasing contentiousness and divisiveness—even among Christians—this amazing verse from the book of Isaiah is clear, straight-forward, and true. Feelings and attitudes of self- righteousness abound in […]