Posts by Brent Niedergall
Wet Bread in Ecclesiastes
I’ve spent the last year writing a verse-by-verse devotional on the Book of Ecclesiastes. Below, I’ve shared the original version of a devotion that was later shortened to fit on a single page. “Cast your bread upon the waters, “the Book of Ecclesiastes advises us, “for you will find it after many days” (Eccles. 11:1).…
Read MoreThe Lord’s Prayer: For All God’s Children
A Book Review Award-winning author Harold Senkbeil has written an excellent children’s book in Lexham’s FatCat series called The Lord’s Prayer: For All God’s Children. Other books in this series include The Apostles’ Creed: For All God’s Children and The King of Christmas. The talented Natasha Kennedy has drawn the artwork for each of these…
Read MoreAn Almost Forgotten Saying of Our Lord
In 1943, a classics professor at Princeton named P. R. Coleman-Norton—according to his article in a peer-reviewed theology journal—visited a Moroccan mosque, where he saw “a single unnumbered page of Greek” (see p. 439 here). He quickly identified the parchment as a portion of an anonymous Latin commentary on Matthew’s Gospel translated into Greek. But,…
Read MoreSuffering and Strong Drink
After twenty years of American military presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban took over the country in a week. Analysts point to corruption as a leading cause for the former government’s lightning-quick demise. The watching world now fully expects human rights abuses to increase under the new regime. There was injustice before and new injustices will…
Read MoreSUPREMES AND SUPREMACY
When I think of what’s supreme, I think of Taco Bell. Fries Supreme Nachos Supreme Beef Crunchy Taco Supreme Beef Soft Taco Supreme Beef Burrito Supreme Chicken Burrito Supreme Steak Burrito Supreme Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco Supreme I could keep going, but you get it. It seems like Taco Bell would have us think…
Read MoreAncient Mariners, Psalms, and Prayers
I’ve always been intrigued by The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It’s an old poem. A long, old poem by a guy named Coleridge. Out of the whole thing, I think the part most of us have any knowledge of is this one: Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. Coleridge wrote this…
Read MoreWhat Is the Preservation of Scripture?
Has God preserved a fixed master copy of the Scriptures? God has preserved His written Word. We have the Bible. But He has done so providentially, not miraculously. Once upon a time, there were two brothers who printed a Greek New Testament in 1633. They wrote in the preface a bit of good advertising. Their…
Read MoreWhat Is the Sufficiency of Scripture?
What do we need God to tell us? The Word of God gives us everything God wants us to know. We call this the sufficiency of Scripture. All the words that God wants you to have when it comes to salvation, and trusting Him, and obeying Him are found in the Bible. That’s why in…
Read MoreWhat Is the Necessity of Scripture?
Sure, Scripture is nice to have. But is it necessary? Yes. Scripture is necessary. We need it. One dictionary of theological terms I checked gave me this definition. The necessity of Scripture means that the Bible is necessary for salvation because it alone reveals the gospel.”1 But that doesn’t go far enough. We don’t just…
Read MoreWhat Is the Clarity of Scripture?
If Scripture is clear, why is there so much in here I still don’t understand? If you’ve spent much time in the Bible, you are no doubt well aware that not everything in Scripture is clear. And when theologians talk about the clarity of Scripture, they’re not saying every reader will understand everything. And to…
Read More