God announces to Abraham his intention to bless Sarai beyond her wildest dreams. Her new name, Sarah, from the Hebrew word for princess, points to her becoming a mother of a son. Through...
Circumcision was a common practice among people in the Ancient Near East, often as a rite of passage for young men in...
The word covenant appears more often in Genesis 17 than in any other chapter of the whole Bible (Hebrew, berit, 13 instances in Genesis 17). In the Ancient Near East, a covenant was a treaty,...
In most pagan religions, human beings initiate relationship with the gods, usually by offering sacrifices in the hope that the gods will respond favorably. But the true God does not wait for us to...
Earlier in Genesis 16, Sarai had suggested to Abram that they solve the problem of her childlessness by having him impregnate her servant, Hagar. When this happened, however, Hagar looked down upon...
A serendipitous moment is a surprise blessing. Sometimes they happen to you; sometimes you have to look for them. J.Schaap found a serendipitious blessing in an old cassette tape. On it was a...
In Genesis 15, Abram is first presented as a paradigm of faith when he trusts God and God counts him righteous (15:6)...
In Genesis 15:6, Abram puts his trust in God and God counts him as righteous. Abram stands as a paradigm of faith.Yet when the Lord reiterates his promise to give the promised land...
There was a time, long ago, when you had to do everything for yourself. If you lived on a remote farm, you had to grow your own food, harvest it, cook it, and...
In Genesis 15, once again the Lord speaks to Abram, promising a great reward. But Abram objects that he has no natural heir, and therefore will miss the essence of greatness according to his...
Trinity University Speech Festival: 1967. The competition was fierce as opponents circled about reassuring one another that blood would flow as they clawed their way to first place. The drama was...
Wayne Huizenga, Jr., is President of Huizenga Holdings, Inc., a diversified company that owns the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League...
“Whistle while you work,” the classic Disney song proclaims. But in financially uncertain times, it can be hard to whistle when our work doesn’t necessarily provide the economic returns we hope for...
The Bible is full of mysteries that we accept on faith, but just can't quite figure out. The appearance of Melchizedek in Genesis 14 is one of these mysteries. We know almost nothing about the...
Transcript In 1982, Tom Peters published an instant business classic called In Search of Excellence. I don't know if he coined the term "out of the box," but he certainly thought that way...
In Genesis 13, conflict between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of his nephew Lot led to a generous compromise on Abram's part: he let Lot choose the best land for himself, while Abram took what...
Earlier in Genesis 13, Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen quarreled because there wasn't enough land to support their flocks.
As God blessed Abram and his nephew Lot, they both became wealthy, with large flocks of livestock. Unfortunately, the land they shared couldn't supply enough food for the flocks, so Abram's...
Shortly after Abram showed exemplary trust in God by moving to Canaan, a famine forces him to move to Egypt. Fearful that the beauty of his wife, Sarai, might jeopardize his own life, Abram...
When I moved to San Antonio, I knew nothing of Lent. I was brought up Baptist, and we didn't do Lent. I...
