Be prepared leaders! The trials are about to get tougher. Your Bible might have a heading for this chapter, “Haggai Begins Temple Building,” but by the second year of Darius’s reign, they had been at it for nearly 3 decades! And at this point in the story, his grandson had ordered the work stopped. Sometimes, […]
In chapter 4, Ezra steps back and allows a more encompassing view of the future, foreshadowing a death to the vision of rebuilding the temple. Whenever we set our minds to doing G-d’s will and proclaim His light, it draws bugs. Satan is the biggest bug of all. In Ezra 4, the bugs came and, […]
Q. Why did the leaders start by rebuilding the altar? A. Because they were terrified of the peoples of the lands. Sacrifices, feasts, and festivals were the order of the day. They wanted a public statement of dedication to focus their efforts on rebuilding, and one goal was their defense against the peoples of the […]
As the great theologian and writer, Steven Ger, once said, “There’s a lot of great action in genealogies.” I found humor in that the 5th name of this genealogy, “the sons of Elam were 1,254.” Then near the end, and just to see if you were paying attention, the Lord included, “the sons of the […]
Are you ready for miracles? How about plans within plans? What is G-d going to reveal to you…to all of us about rebuilding our temple after Covid exile as we read through these 56 days of scriptures together? Time and space are going to fold as we simultaneously A) journey through a rich tapestry carefully […]
Don’t panic (written in “large, friendly letters”) Do you feel something different since returning from Covid exile? Feeling flat? Do you have intrusive negative thoughts? Increased alertness, anger, fits of rage, irritability, or hatred, difficulty sleeping or concentrating? Do you find yourself avoiding situations or people? Covid Exile forced our church family, our temples, to […]
