Devotionals

The difference between a contradiction and a paradox is that the former contains an irreconcilable set of facts where the latter does not.  Contradictions are necessarily false, but a paradox only appears to be irrational. Common paradoxical sayings include “less is more” and “the only constant is change.”  The paradox is a helpful literary device that the Bible also makes use of.  Here is one example. Remember [...]

Among Jesus’ miracles one of the more memorable ones, the feeding of the multitude, is recorded in John chapter six.  To that point, healing the sick is mentioned in the first verses as a set up to the “more significant” miracle of the provision of food.  “And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick” (Jn. [...]

Some people are prone to making decisions for the sake of having it off their plate even when they don’t have important, relevant information.  That way of thinking is actually encouraged in workplaces by what’s referred to as a “bias for action.”  It is an attitude that expects people to act even when they are unsure about the outcome. Undoubtedly, in some circumstances doing something is preferable to [...]

Today, it’s hard to imagine life without access to real-time, turn-by-turn navigation on our phones, but it wasn’t always that way.  That technology has only been available to the general public since 2000.  Before Magellan or Garmin produced the first handheld GPS devices, we used paper maps.  At that time an integral part of road trip preparation was a commitment to hours of hovering [...]

One of the remarkable characteristics of the Bible is that it is simultaneously straightforward and sophisticated.  On the plainspoken end of the spectrum is the command to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).  However, the mysterious end includes the study of [...]

Aside from Jesus, the person most closely associated with kingship, military might and the execution of God’s justice in the Bible has to be King David.   He is introduced to the reader as one anointed to become king.  As a young man he defeated the enemy-giant, Goliath, on behalf of his nation.  He first ruled Judah and then all of Israel.  He conquered the city of Jerusalem, where [...]