The narrative of the Canaanite woman begging Jesus to heal her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28) is a complicated one to be sure. We might read the story and wonder why Jesus would put off answering her desperate request! How could He have the power to heal her child and even consider allowing her to continue suffering? […]

In Matthew 11, John the Baptist was sitting in prison. Trapped in a tiny, dark cell must have been excruciating for a person who was used to fresh air, freedom and the wide-open spaces of the wilderness. This was not how things were supposed to go for John! He was the forerunner to the Messiah. […]

Every Sunday school student knows the story of the paralyzed man whose friends took apart the roof on a house in order to let him down to be healed by Jesus (found in Matthew 9). It’s a thrilling story for sure! We can imagine what love these friends must have had for the man in […]

Jesus summed up His epic teaching in Matthew 5-7 with these words, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it […]

It’s been a really rough couple of years for our family, and my 11-year-old has had a particularly difficult time. As her mother, I want to fix it for her, I want to change the experience that she is having. It’s excruciating to watch people that we love go through hard things. As I was […]

In Matthew chapter one, an angel appeared to Joseph and let him in on an important secret. The woman that he was marrying was going to bring the gospel–in the flesh–into the world! But, this wasn’t just going to be Mary’s ministry, the angel let Joseph know that it was his calling as well. “Do […]

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).” With a final greeting, John concludes the book of Revelation and we close our Cannon. After all that he had heard and seen about the end of times, John wasn’t fearful of all of the judgements described […]

In Revelation 20 we encounter the dreaded, “mark of the beast.” According to verse four, the image will be put on a person’s forehead and/or their hands. Many Christians will die because they refuse to receive the sign. It’s an unsettling scenario to be sure. Whenever I have had conversations with other believers about the […]

The book of Revelation gives us plenty of fun opportunities to scour scripture, searching for answers to the riddles found in it. For example, in Revelation 11, John described two witnesses who will prophesy for 3 ½ years during the end times. Of course, we can’t know definitively who these two men will be, but […]

When our family lived in another state, we attended a church that had a special prayer service on Sunday nights. After a few worship songs, people would gather in small, informal groups with the people seated near them and would take turns praying aloud. As I sat in one of those groups once, I could […]