Leader Extras
The marriage of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29) raises all kinds of unanswerable questions. Did Leah help plan the deception or was the scheme concocted by her dad alone? Could Leah have said no to the scheme? Where was Rachel when this was going on? Did Rachel know what was happening? Who else in the […]
The presence of God changes everything. Imagine a weary Israelite on the 40-year journey through the wilderness. In the darkness of the night he lifts the flap of his tent, looks up at the pillar of fire in the sky, turns to his wife and says, “Everything’s okay, God’s still with us.” Consider the disciples […]
Sibling rivalry is as old as … well, the Old Testament. To this day it still puts great stress on families. My two grandsons are both teenagers. In my humble, but correct, opinion, they are the finest, kindest, smartest, and most promising two grandchildren the world has ever known. But they are truly “biblical” brothers. […]
Most of us will sit down with family and friends this week to enjoy a table full of food. Our tables represent a great deal of work done by a farmer somewhere. He prepared the soil, planted seed, and monitored the threats. Some plants had to be given special care while others seemed to grow […]
“The devil made me do it.” My generation remembers Flip Wilson popularizing this catchphrase in the early 1970s. It was comedy. We laughed when his character, Geraldine Jones, said, “The devil made me buy this dress. I didn’t want to do it!” Flip Wilson may have popularized the catchphrase, but he didn’t originate the notion […]
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Whoever first spoke this “back-at-you” proverb probably did so after being stung by someone else’s words. The truth is, words often do hurt. They can help and heal, but they can also hurt and destroy. And while it’s true that words are […]
How might a person confuse acceptance of a belief with acceptance of Christ as Savior? How are the two related? How are they different? This series of questions appears in both the Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide and the Explore the Bible Daily Discipleship Guide. These questions define my spiritual journey. My parents made […]
“My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (Jas. 2:1). Favoritism, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the unfair practice of treating some people better than others.” The Greek word translated favoritism in James 2 literally means to “receive according to the face.” In […]
Can you imagine growing up in a family of siblings with Jesus as your older brother? I can’t imagine it, but James actually experienced it. Strictly speaking, James was Jesus’ younger half-brother. Mary gave birth to both boys—as well as to several other children (see Mark 6:3)—but Jesus, as Mary’s firstborn, was miraculously conceived by […]
Paul called on the Galatian believers to hold each other accountable for living in light of the gospel. When they were living under the law, lawbreakers faced public disgrace for their wrongdoings being made examples for all to see. These public proceedings led to separation not restoration. Paul called for believers to live in light […]