When considering the book of Joel, many of us will immediately turn our attention to the prophetic words of Joel 2:28-32 (NKJV). This is the prophecy that Peter, by inspiration, brought to the minds of all the nations gathered on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21). What Joel had prophesied took place in the days of the Apostles of Christ and the coming of His Kingdom. Depending on the dating of the book of Joel (900 B.C. to 400 B.C.), the fulfillment of the prophecy was 400 to 900 years later. A valuable lesson for us today is God’s word will stand. He is not bound by time nor operates on our schedule.             Joel, the son of Pethuel (Joel 1:1), whose name means “Yahweh is God,” urged Judah to turn away from sin and back to God. A devastating swarm of locusts had laid the land waste. The destruction was like nothing seen before, “Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers” (Joel 1:2)? The variety of locusts came in stages so that the land was left completely bare (Joel 1:4), and the damage was so great it would be known for generations (Joel 1:3). This was not something that could be overlooked, and everyone in Judah was affected by the plague of locusts (Joel 1:13-20). It was a wake-up call by God for His people to recognize their spiritual state. The damage done was physical but was in demand …

            The book of Hosea is the first of the minor prophets. The book is “the word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel” (Hos. 1:1, NKJV). This helps us to have a timeframe from around 755-725 B.C. for the writing of the book. Hosea’s message is for the Northern Kingdom as is evidenced through his usage of “Ephraim” and “Israel.”             Israel needed such a strong message from the LORD’s prophet for multiple reasons. Concerning their moral state, Israel was far from where they needed to be. “Swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery” had become common (Hos. 4:2). “Harlotry, wine, and new wine [enslaved] the heart” of the people (Hos. 4:11). Concerning their religious state, Israel had turned from God. The people had “burned incense” to “the Baals” (Hos. 2:13). The priests had no knowledge and were leading the people towards destruction (Hos. 4:6). More and more of God’s children were turning to idols (Hos. 4:12), the law of God was “considered a strange thing” (Hos. 8:12), and God’s people were “bent on backsliding” (Hos. 11:7). Based on their moral and religious landscape, it was clear that the people of Israel needed a message that might help them to turn back to God.             As a result of their clear need for repentance, several great lessons are …

The book of Romans is one of the most theologically rich books in our Bible. A study of Romans reveals amazing truths concerning the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. While containing great depths into which we can dive to learn more about God and our salvation, Romans also contains some of the clearest yet challenging applications for us as Christians to live by such as instruction concerning our love, dealings with evil, submission to government, and dealing with matters of opinion (Rom. 12-14).             As a whole, Romans is about the gospel of Christ Jesus. The thesis for the book can be found in Romans 1:16-17 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (NKJV). Through this book, Paul seeks to help his brethren better understand God’s plan for the justification of man through the gospel (Rom. 1-11) and what a transformed life of faith in the gospel ought to look like (Rom. 12-16).             I am excited to begin our study of Romans together during our evening classes. I look forward to growing in my faith and my understanding of God’s will as we dig deep into this inspired book to learn the truths …

Confidence matters. To go through life and have confidence in your ability to carry out daily tasks at home or work is one thing, but to have confidence in your spiritual life is far more important. This confidence is not an overconfidence that believes one can never be wrong or that he or she already has everything figured out. Rather, this spiritual confidence is a sense of peace and surety, knowing that there is an eternal home waiting thanks to what has been supplied by “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11, NKJV). Confidence comes about through consistent effort. As it relates to the level of surety we as Christians ought to have, Peter says we are to give “all diligence” to “add to [our] faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). When we are diligently working to grow in all of these areas, the result will be confidence! By adding all of these to our lives, we “will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and we will not forget that have been “cleansed from [our] old sins.” (2 Pet. 1:8-9). Knowing that we can have the confidence to face life without worrying about our eternal home ought to motivate us to “be even more diligent to make [our] call and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10). God has provided us with all …