Small Things Are Great

One thing I have come to admire as I continually study the Scriptures is the remarkable order in which these writers communicated God's message. Either they were very smart, or the Spirit of God gave them such clarity and direction that even their writing followed a deliberate flow. The more you study these prophetic books, the more you begin to notice that what initially looks like a collection of disconnected prophecies is actually a message unfolding in a particular direction. We finished Micah chapter one looking at the places. God comes down from heaven to earth, and specific places begin to appear in the picture. Samaria, Jerusalem and the surrounding towns are brought into view as judgment moves through the land. Chapter one, therefore, gives us the places. Chapters two and three shift our attention from places to people. First, Micah addresses the general population, particularly those who plan evil and oppress others (Micah 2:1). He then turns to the prophets, some of whom...

When what is far away makes it home. We are now in the book of Micah, and this is one book that gave me quite a bit of a struggle when I first started reading it. I could read the words, but I was not necessarily seeing the flow or getting the direction. I went through it three or four times, and there were moments when I genuinely felt stuck. I would read and think, “What exactly is going on here?” Thankfully, the help came through, and eventually I began to get a sense of what Micah was saying and where he was taking us. As we begin, it is important to note that there are several people called Micah, or names closely related to Micah, in the Bible. The spelling varies depending on the person and the English translation. For our purposes, let us narrow our attention to the three who are commonly rendered Micah. The first is the Micah we meet in Judges 17 and 18. This is the man who made an idol, established his own shrine and hired a Levite to serve as his priest. Eventually, the trib...

There’s a man who went by the name of Epaphras. Yap. I know you maybe know no one by that name. He’s mentioned three times in the New Testament. The first time as a fellowship starter, the second time as a fervent prayer warrior, and the third time as a fellow prisoner — free even in prison. All three mentions are by Paul, as he pens(it was a feather though) his letters to the church in Colossae and to our brother Philemon. His journey is believed to have started in Ephesus. In Acts 19, we read that Paul spent two to three years there, teaching about the baptism of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Paul became a lecturer there and had some students under him. It’s believed Epaphras was one of those who heard the gospel then and when he travelled back home to Colossae, he simply preached what he had experienced and learned. As a result, a fellowship was started. (bursts in song: ainuliwe Bwana wa ma bwana, ainuliwe ametenda mema...) What catches my eye is the casualness with which he is men...

As we continue in this journey through the Bible, I have been highlighting three things that I believe are very key as we study the Scriptures. When I say Scriptures in this particular context, I am talking about the Law, the Prophets and the Writings, not the New Testament. There are three questions I believe we need to keep asking as we read. Number one: Who is God? Number two: What is going on? Number three: What is my place in whatever is going on? When those three questions begin to find answers, something changes in the way we read. Every book has its own setting, its own people, its own immediate circumstances and its own voice. Hosea was not writing while looking over his shoulder at Chronicles to make sure the two books matched. He was not thinking, “Let me make sure Paul will understand this one day.” Paul, Peter, James and Luke were not Hosea's immediate audience. Neither were we. This then begs another question: Is the Bible history, or is it just a story? Whatever your...

The book of Hosea is almost like the book of Romans(jk) in the New Testament, although this romance is a very different kind of romance. I have seen enough stories of how God calls people and then does ministry through their lives. We see prophets being called, we see their assignments, we see the messages they carry, and we see how God uses them to speak to His people. The ministry Hosea is engaged in, however, is one very unique ministry. Yes, it is the ministry of reconciliation. God is trying to tell the northern kingdom, the ten tribes that were called Israel, that what they did was wrong. When the kingdom divided after Solomon, they followed Jeroboam and separated themselves from the southern kingdom of Judah. That separation became much more than a political division. It became a spiritual journey that took them further away from the Father. One wrong turn led to another, and another, until Israel had wandered so far that God now wanted them back. To paint a picture of just how ...

After the Rhema Feast, there has been enough banter online from those who are for it and those who are not. Some have said the whole event is not a good thing. Others have had issues with some of the speakers and speeches, while others were fully in it and were not bothered by the naysayers. On Sunday morning, however, I realized that this is not a new matter. There was a time when the Corinthians were divided between two opinions, and perhaps more. Some were flying the Apollos flag while others were friendly to Paul. Others had chosen Cephas, while some had taken the seemingly safest position and declared, “I follow Christ.” This is what Paul and Sosthenes wrote to them concerning the divisions. They kicked off with an introduction that was surprisingly warm. Before touching the matter that had brought them concern, they reminded the Corinthians of who they were and what God had already done among them. “ Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brothe...