Category: REBECCA VAN NOORD

  • UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITIES

    Connect The TestamentsZechariah 8:1–9:17; Acts 23:23–24:27; Job 30:1–15 When we are busy doing the work of the kingdom, how do we respond to obstacles that get in our way? Do we expect God to blast a path straight through so that we can proceed? We might read the drama of Paul’s life through this lens,…

  • SPEAKING THE TRUTH WITH LOVE

    Connect The TestamentsZechariah 3:1–5:11; Acts 21:27–22:21; Job 29:1–12 Read today’s headlines and you might conclude that Christian boldness is a thin disguise for defensiveness, anger, and demeaning behavior. Believers who feel voiceless in their society sometimes respond by becoming adamant “defenders of the faith” in ways that can be destructive. In an age of instant…

  • KEEP US FROM DISTRACTION

    Connect The TestamentsHaggai 1:1–2:23; Acts 20:1–38; Job 28:1–11 It’s easy to get distracted from the good work God intends for us to do. Competing forces vie for our attention; we’re sidetracked by fear or selfishness. We start living our own stories and lose sight of the greater narrative, of which our lives are just one…

  • MEASURING OUT GOD’S GOODNESS

    Connect The TestamentsHabakkuk 2:6–3:19; Acts 18:1–28; Job 26:1–14 Although we don’t usually question God’s goodness, we do make assumptions about how He should act in the world. We expect God to use us in His work and to intercede on our behalf—and rightfully so, since those promises come from Him. But when we find ourselves…

  • ANOTHER TAKE

    Connect The TestamentsNahum 1:1–3:19; Acts 16:6–40; Job 24:12–25 What do we risk when we know of God’s forgiveness and then become complacent and return to our sinful ways? What happens when we turn our back on God—treating Him like an insurance agent rather than a savior? The short, shocking book of Nahum shows what happens…

  • FREEDOM AND RESPONSE

    Connect The TestamentsMicah 4:1–6:16; Acts 14:8–15:21; Job 23:1–17 Freedom from sin gives us the power to love. But freedom from poverty or oppression or guilt sometimes makes us complacent. We forget our inclination to wander away from God’s will and pursue our own, and we overlook that God will eventually call us to account. Although…

  • GOING YOUR OWN WAY

    Connect The TestamentsJonah 1:1–4:11; Acts 13:1–12; Job 22:1–13 I work hard to make my disobedience socially acceptable: “I have a stubborn streak,” I explain, or “I’m just like my dad.” But the truth is that my weaknesses aren’t cute or transitory—and they’re not anyone else’s fault. Instead, my disobedience is a deep-rooted, rebellious tendency to…

  • DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH

    Connect The TestamentsAmos 8:1–9:15; Acts 10:34–11:18; Job 21:1–16 In our comfortable and familiar church homes, we sometimes fail to see the Church as a community of ethnic and cultural diversity. When I returned from a year in South Korea, I was surprised when my family and friends made thoughtless generalizations about people I had come…

  • GOD DOESN’T PROMISE EASE OR INVISIBILITY

    Connect The TestamentsAmos 4:6–5:27; Acts 9:20–43; Job 20:1–11 As Christians, we might be tempted by the lure of invisibility—the fabled cloak or ring that gives us the power to walk undetected among our friends or enemies. Although it is true that “making much of God” means making little of ourselves, we sometimes use this truth…

  • RESILIENT HOPE AND RED HERRINGS

    Connect The TestamentsJoel 3:1–21; Acts 7:54–8:25; Job 19:1–12 The death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, must have crushed and discouraged the early church. But in this event Luke shows us glimmers of hope. He reminds us that God is working behind the scenes. Facing death, Stephen prayed for his persecutors, asking that God “not…