Category: CONNECT THE TESTAMENTS

  • SINS OF OMISSION

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 24-25; 1 Corinthians 1:17-40; Psalm 21:1-13 There’s that moment when you’re asked to do something you know is wrong, but you feel like you should respond. It’s almost as fleeting as the decision to not stand up for what is right, even when no one asks for your opinion. Many wrongdoings occur…

  • WE DON’T (REALLY) MEAN IT

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 23:1-30; 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:16; Psalm 20:1-9 “I’ll pray for you.” We say it often, but how many times do we actually remember to do it? Our biggest downfall might not be a lack of compassion—it’s probably just not taking time to write down the request and not having a model of praying…

  • A MERCIFUL SMACKDOWN

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 22:1-41; 1 Corinthians 5:1-6:11; Psalm 19:1-14 Sometimes, we’d rather not be teachable. When it comes to taking advice from people in my church community, it’s easier to keep an emotional distance than it is to listen. If I tread lightly on their sin, maybe they’ll tread lightly on mine. If we keep…

  • IS THIS “BAD” FROM GOD?

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 20-21; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4:21; Psalm 18:31-50 God has granted us incredible grace in the salvation that Jesus’ death and resurrection offers, but that very grace is often used as a theological excuse. It’s dangerous to say that bad things come from God, but there are times when they actually do. What makes…

  • LETTING EVIL BURN

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 19:1-20:13; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16; Psalm 18:13-30 “And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying … ‘let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect …. And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will … be slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest will take…

  • IT WILL SEEM SIMPLE IN RETROSPECT

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 17:1-18:32, 1 Corinthians 1:1-31, Psalm 18:1-12 We’re all faced with difficult tasks. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was forced to confront their spiritual problems, which were slowly destroying God’s work among them. Paul was thankful for them (1 Cor 1:4–8), but he was also called to a high purpose as…

  • THE POWER STRUGGLE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 16:1-50; John 21:1-25; Psalm 17:1-15 Every leader faces power struggles—from those who follow the leader and from those the leader follows. If there isn’t some sort of struggle, the leader probably isn’t doing his or her job well. It’s simple: those who make everyone happy probably aren’t pushing people to be better,…

  • A PSALM OF CONFIDENCE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 15:1-41; John 20:1-31; Psalm 16:1-11 You are my Lord,” the psalmist acknowledges. “I have no good apart from you” (Psa 16:2). We know that God is everything we need, but somehow the details still get in the way. We want to alleviate our troubles through other means—that vacation, the position that will…

  • NOSTALGIA: MY OLD FRIEND

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 14:1-45; John 19:17-42; Psalm 14:1-15:5 Regret and nostalgia can destroy lives. They are mirrored ideas with the same pitfalls: neither can change the past, and both keep us from living in the present. When we live wishfully rather than interacting with the present, we’re bound to miss out and hurt others. Since…

  • CRY OUT LIKE THE PSALMIST

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 13:1-33; John 18:25-19:16; Psalm 13:1-6 We often read the very bold psalms of the Bible without really reading them. We’re used to their cadence, their cries, and their requests. They seem appropriate in contexts where war, death, and enemies or mutinous friends were a daily reality. For that reason, these cries don’t…