Do you remember those pictures in the mid-1990s where they looked to be just some abstract colors and smudges, but if you let your eyes relax (or cross perhaps) you could see a hidden picture? If you don’t remember them or are too young, consider yourself fortunate. I remember walking through malls (remember them?) and stopping at the stores...

When I was a kid, I didn’t think much about outlets. When I was really young, I knew to stay away from them and definitely not to stick a fork or something like that in them. But even through my teenage years, I didn’t think much about them at all. Didn’t have that much of a need for them—the...

I’ll admit it: I have selective hearing at times. My wife and kids know this well. There are times when I am focused on something for work, school, or who knows what and someone will try to talk to me, but I don’t hear it. I like to think it’s because of my laser focus. My wife and kids...

With the kingdom divided because of Solomon’s sin and Rehoboam’s folly, we enter into what can be considered the darkest period of Israel’s history. Led by a series of mostly evil kings, God’s people continued their downward spiral, diving deeper into idolatry. Yes, the captivities would be difficult, but perhaps this period of flagrant rebellion was the low of...

Sin comes with a cost. Always. Even if we might not see it right away. I think of the consequences of sin like the seasons when I eat too much and exercise too little. There are times when I eat well and exercise enough that I am in decent shape. But then, life gets busy and I get lazy...

We often talk about how why matters just as much, or perhaps more, than what. It shouldn’t surprise you then that I want to draw our attention beyond the what of the temple—beyond the details—and focus more on its why—why it existed. While the temple was constructed to replace the tabernacle, they both shared the same trifold purposes: the...