Was Joshua Required to Offer the Wavesheaf?
Sermonette; Given 5/8/2021
The phrase, 'when you come into the land' (regarding offering the Wavesheaf), sounds like an absolute command, but its usage shows there may be qualifiers.
Pentecost's Two Leavened Loaves (Part Three)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 5/7/2021
We may do the right thing toward a neighbor but not do it with the exact, perfect attitude that God does it in. Thus, our 'good' work contains corruption.
Pentecost's Two Leavened Loaves (Part Two)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 4/30/2021
The grain offering is not substitutionary; it does not symbolize an individual but rather the product of his labors toward others from God's bounty.
Pentecost's Two Leavened Loaves (Part One)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 4/23/2021
Scripture uses leaven as a symbol of corruption. The mystery deepens with the instruction of not one leavened loaf but two. Why two leavened loaves?
Redeemed, But Waiting for Redemption
Sermonette; Given 4/10/2021
Redemption is a continual spiritual process not completed until the end of the sanctification process. Passover commemorates what Christ's death set in motion.
Joshua and the Gibeonites (Part Three)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 3/26/2021
We must be very careful about ascribing human behavior--and especially human sin--to God, concluding that it must be God's will, or it would be different.
Passover: An Extraordinary Peace Offering
Sermon; Given 3/20/2021
The Passover sacrifice is basically unconnected with atonement, but represents the peace and security which attends fellowship with God because of His acceptance.
Joshua and the Gibeonites (Part Two)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 3/19/2021
The Gibeonites' subterfuge succeeded because Israel's leaders, including Joshua, failed to check in with God, and in time, that failure cost them dearly.
Joshua and the Gibeonites (Part One)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 3/12/2021
The Gibeonites fashioned masterful disguises and played their parts exactly right to achieve their goal. God warns us about deception because it works!
Was the Early Church Socialist or Communist?
Sermonette; Given 2/13/2021
The apostles never required converts to give up property as a precondition for church membership. Rather, the members voluntarily gave, retaining ownership.
The Same Mind, Judgment, and Speech (Part Three)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 1/29/2021
Despite our differences, Jesus Christ is our commonality. As we pursue His image, we will have greater harmony with those seeking the same thing.
Implications of the Gospel of the Kingdom
Sermonette; Given 1/23/2021
God's people must let go of the world's solutions, involving party spirit, revolutions, and power struggles, placing their trust in the sovereignty of God.
The Same Mind, Judgment, and Speech (Part Two)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 1/22/2021
What is hotly contested today will be irrelevant in a short time. Earthly knowledge has an expiration date, but understanding how to live is eternal.
The Same Mind, Judgment, and Speech (Part One)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 1/15/2021
The Loch Ness monster can represent any knowledge: In the uncertainty, what is adamantly held by some to be true may be rejected by others as preposterous.
God's Kingdom in the Parables (Part Four): The Pearl, the Dragnet, and the Householder
'Prophecy Watch' Article; Posted 1/5/2021
Jesus' parables of the Pearl of Great Price, the Dragnet, and the Householder resolve the problems raised in their corresponding earlier parables.
Life in the Church
Sermon; Given 12/26/2020
Outwardly, many members in Sardis bore Christ's name, but like the apparently religious Pharisees, they were in reality hypocrites, full of dead men's bones.
Inventing Goddesses and Demons
Sermonette; Given 11/28/2020
The Jews turned a Babylonian myth of Lilith into a fabrication about a woman before Eve. Some translations suggest Israel sacrificed to a demon named Azazel.
God's Kingdom in the Parables (Part Three): Hidden Treasure
'Prophecy Watch' Article; Posted 11/9/2020
In Matthew 13, the hidden treasure the man finds provides the spiritual solution to the leaven - corruption - the woman hides in the three measures of meal.
Why 153 Fish? (Part Three)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 10/30/2020
Why did Jesus provide precisely 153 fish? Few commentaries suggest any explanation for the number, and fewer still advance a theory of any substance.
Why 153 Fish? (Part Two)
C.G.G. Weekly; Posted 10/23/2020
At Cana, the wedding party (and the physical nation) had water for purification rites, but the wedding feast (and the nation) lacked the all-important wine.