As the Bible moves from the Gospels (especially John) through Acts and into the Epistles (especially Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Galatians), it gives increasing attention to the Holy Spirit. In particular, two aspects of the Spirit’s influence and work — His fruits and His gifts — receive the focus of many paragraphs and even entire […]
The “One Spirit” Bible Advocate was published a month ago. The “One Body” issue is coming in another month. I can’t wait for you to see it! But here in the middle, while we wait, I’m pondering how the first issue informs the second. Spirit is essential for body. Where would the body of Christ […]
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans (Romans 8:26). As a girl who often doted on her daddy, I used to imitate some of the things he did. Most summers, my […]
Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! (Psalm 80:3). One of my favorite TV shows was the History Channel’s American Restoration. Before a new cast took over the show, it featured a guy named Rick Dale and his shop, Rick’s Restorations, in Las Vegas, Nevada. People brought Rick […]
The Holy Spirit is found throughout the Bible, but His role in the life of God’s people develops significantly from the Old Testament to the New as all God’s good promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Beginnings The Holy Spirit is introduced in the creation narrative of Genesis 1:1, 2: “In the beginning God created […]
The weary travelers felt their hearts revive as they reached the Holy City. For a small-town villager, Jerusalem was an awesome sight. It was the day before the Feast of Weeks began, and the visitors were in a hurry to participate in the festivities. They sang the Psalms of Ascent as they climbed the mount […]
Numbers 11:29 Psalm 143:10 Proverbs 1:23 Isaiah 11:1, 2 Isaiah 32:15 Isaiah 42:1-4 Isaiah 44:3, 4 Isaiah 59:16-21 Isaiah 61:1-3 Ezekiel 36:26, 27 Ezekiel 37:1-14 Joel 2:28, 29 These are a start. What others can you add? Send them to bibleadvocate@cog7.org.
Let the bank take over and forget it. We can’t keep the place going. There’s no future here. It was the 1920s, and a major Depression breathed down their necks. Reeling from the death of their doctor-husband and father, the Crockett family made a nearly unanimous decision to desert the orchard. The daughter, Adele (Kitty) […]
For many years, when I thought about faith, I thought of it primarily in terms of my own faith, my appropriate response to God’s free gift of grace — a faith like Abraham’s, a faith prophesied by Habakkuk, a faith without which it is impossible to please our God (Romans 4:16; Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4; […]
Where is history going? Do the details of our lives count as part of that history? Are our individual stories all there is, or is there a big story, a grand metanarrative? We derive from Scripture that there is a big story, that God is writing its chapters, and that it includes even the minutest […]
