Filter by Categories
A God of Many Dimensions
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughGod has 'soft' virtues, which most churches proclaim loudly and often, and 'hard' ones, which get little attention. God has having a range of character traits.
The Incomprehensibility of Our Great God
Commentary by Martin G. CollinsWestern society is increasingly using exaggerations or superlatives to describe the ordinary and mundane. Everyone will give an account of all idle words.
Lessons From Unleavened Bread
Sermon by Mark SchindlerThe unsearchable nature of God forms the foundation for understanding His sovereignty as Creator and the profound difference between His ways and the ways of this present world. Job's demand that God justify his suffering is met not with explanation but with a reminder of divine incomprehensibility: God laid the earth's foundations while the angels themselves only shouted for joy at works they could not fully grasp. This same theme unfolds in Isaiah, where God declares that His understanding is unsearchable, that no one can be likened to Him, and that those who wait on Him receive renewed strength despite never fully comprehending His ways. Isaiah further reveals that God looks with favor on those who are poor in spirit and tremble at His word, humbly submitting rather than demanding comprehension. This theme of divine unsearchableness connects directly to the purpose of the Days of Unleavened Bread, which are meant to deepen appreciation for the vast gulf between God's creative, generative way of life and Satan's destructive, zero-sum pattern. From the beginning, God designed creation to multiply and enhance itself, as seen in the seed-bearing plants of Genesis and Adam's charge to beautify the Garden. Yet it appears that pride arose precisely because the angels, in their limited understanding of God's unsearchable purposes, did not anticipate mankind being made in God's image. This may explain the origin of Helel's presumption, later described in Ezekiel and Isaiah as a fall from perfection into violent self-exaltation, a pattern imitated by "the king of Tyre" and by all who follow Satan's way of pride and taking rather than giving. This corruption spread into humanity in Eden, introducing a zero-sum mindset in which one party's gain necessitates another's loss, a pattern illustrated through Walter Williams' commentary on political versus market allocation, though his conclusions remain bound to worldly reasoning rather than the unsearchable wisdom of God. The Exodus account demonstrates God's power to deliver His people from this bondage, accomplishing what only He could do, yet Israel's grumbling reveals humanity's tendency to resent God's incomprehensible timing and methods rather than trust them. In contrast, Christ as the true bread of life and the vine offers a relationship of abiding dependence, where fruitfulness flows from union with Him rather than self-generated effort. Paul's teaching on cheerful giving reflects God's abundant, non-zero-sum nature, where sowing produces increase rather than loss. Colossians identifies covetousness, the driving force of Satan's zero-sum system, as idolatry, requiring believers to put to death self-centeredness and shift focus entirely toward God. Hebrews concludes this pattern by urging endurance and freedom from covetousness, trusting the God who will never forsake His people, even though His ways remain beyond human searching.
Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Thirty-Two): Ecclesiastes 8:1-9
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughEcclesiastes was to be read during the Feast of Tabernacles, emphasizing a state of temporariness, as God's people were commanded to live in temporary quarters.
It IS All About Government
Sermon by Mark SchindlerEvery form of human government established on this earth has been established as an attempt to declare independence from the sovereignty of God.
Time and Life
'Ready Answer' by Richard T. RitenbaughThe way men and God look at time and life are very different. But if we come to understand God's perspective, we have a greater chance of living His way!