Pastor Steve

We do not show our spirituality when we abstain from prayer – “letting God do what God will do” – so much as reveal our carnality. The greatest women and men of God have been prayer warriors. After all that has been spoken and written by godly men on prayer, we need something better than…

The section of Daniel we now come to, (chapter 8) is a decisive passage for all the various systems of prophetic interpretation. It has two main parts: a prayer of Daniel, which is a model of devout, humble, and effective prayer petition; and a concluding revelation, which was God’s answer to that prayer. This concluding…

Even though Daniel’s loyalty to the emperor was established beyond question, Daniel was clearly prepared to swim against the tide of polytheism and assert his conviction that there was only one true God – the God of Heaven whom he worshipped. He was not prepared to compromise his position, even if the emperor commanded it.…

At the conclusion of chapter 8 Daniel describes his reaction to the vision and the explanation given by the angel Gabriel, saying, “I, Daniel, was overcome [exhausted] and lay sick for some days … I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.” His confession of failure to understand the vision must refer…

When these magi, however many there were, arrived in Jerusalem, they began asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” The Greek construction (saying is a present participle emphasizing continual action) suggests that they went around the city questioning whomever they met. Because they, as foreigners, knew of the monumental birth,…

Painting by Sandro Boticelli of the three magi. Boticelli was an early renaissance painter living in the 15th century who died early in the 16th century. Boticelli painted a number of depictions of the magi this particular painting is found in the London museum. This depiction is one I appreciate because it is more true…