Joshua 6: The “Battle” of Jericho

Alright! Joshua 6! Another one of those über-famous stories that also happens to be über-weird and über-interesting. I just figured out how to put an umlaut on my “u,” so I plan on üsing it liberally. I’d like to start talking about this battle by acknowledging the difficulty of reading about the slaughter of an …

Deuteronomy 29: Not Quite As Scary as The Last Chapter

One of my students asked me yesterday why I left him hanging with Wednesday’s post about Deuteronomy 28.  Well, the chapter didn’t resolve nice and neat so neither should my post. Duh! But fear not! Today we had a slightly less scary description of the consequences of disobedience and a hopeful promise to close the …

Deuteronomy 28: The Scariest Chapter In The Bible

14/54 That is a ratio. Can you guess what it is? That is the number of pleasant verses in Deuteronomy 28 compared to the number of, shall we say, UNpleasant ones. If you ever asked yourself while reading Deuteronomy, “Hmm, I know that there have been some warnings about not following the law, but is …

Deuteronomy 17: It’s Good To Be King?

Hi everyone! I took a little birthday break last week. I wasn’t planning on it but it happened anyway. And I think it was good. I actually was on a retreat with my other Oregon InterVarsity staff at the same house where the idea for this blog was born. It was fun to be back …

Deuteronomy 8: Forget Me Not

Back in Deuteronomy 6, God gave his people a warning: When you enter the land and have eaten your fill (when you start to prosper), do not forget me or what I brought you out of. Now, in Deuteronomy 8, God has something similar to say: When you have eaten your fill and have built …

Deuteronomy 2: Two Thoughts & a Question

Deuteronomy 2 isn’t exactly the easiest chapter to read and “get something out of it.” So I decided to take some of my own advice from yesterday and read it slowly and carefully with as much curiosity as I could muster. And wouldn’t you know it, the results were very interesting. Call & Response One …

Numbers 9: Keep The Passover

This post would be another one of my “on location” posts where I write from somewhere that is not my home. Today, I am sitting in a lodge looking out at the sunset on a lake north of Spokane, Washington. It is stupid beautiful. This is the annual InterVarsity Northwest Regional gathering and I will …

Leviticus 26: If You . . . I Will

Hey everyone. God here. I hope you have been enjoying my laws. I know I have enjoyed giving them to you. And great work on my tent BTW. I’m lovin’ the woodwork. Anyhoo, we are getting to the end of this book of Leviticus and I thought it was about time to tell you what …