‘I Must Be Cruel Only to be Kind’: God is Kind to His Children and Cruel to Those Who Would Harm Them. Isaiah 13.

When I was a tiny boy, my father was tender and affectionate with me. My brother and I would run to grab him when he came in from work, and he would try to walk with one of us clinging to each leg. We would sit in his soft chair and he would gingerly sitContinue reading “‘I Must Be Cruel Only to be Kind’: God is Kind to His Children and Cruel to Those Who Would Harm Them. Isaiah 13.”

Are You Jealous or Envious? Zephaniah 1:4.

Envy and jealousy are not the same thing. Do you know the difference? I like to think in terms of first, second, and third person. Envy is a situation in which the first person wants what the second person has—and the third person plays no part. Envy requires only two persons, where jealousy requires three.Continue reading “Are You Jealous or Envious? Zephaniah 1:4.”

Observing the Idol Worshipper in His Native Habitat. Isaiah 44:12-20.

Image: Long-Billed Curlew, by John James Audubon, one of 435 life-sized, realistic watercolor paintings in his BIRDS OF AMERICA, 1838, a staggering masterpiece of documentation. A naturalist is a kind of hybrid scientist-reporter-artist-categorizer, such as John James Audubon, John Muir, and Jane Goodall. They publish their findings in books with simple titles like THE REDContinue reading “Observing the Idol Worshipper in His Native Habitat. Isaiah 44:12-20.”

WORD CHOICE. James 4:4-5.

Research says most hear 30,000 words a day, and speak 7,000 words a day with some (like my family!) speaking many more. Stephen King encourages new writers to WRITE 1,000 words a day. That’s 40,000 words a day. That being said, when was the last time you looked up a word to ensure you wereContinue reading “WORD CHOICE. James 4:4-5.”