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In 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded Israel, the Northern Kingdom and took them captive. They never returned to the land. They are called the ten lost tribes. A century later, in 605 B.C., Babylon took the first captives from the Southern Kingdom, Judah. In 586 B.C.,...

After God scattered humans at Babel, he refused to give up on mankind. Given the disaster at Babel, He changed the way he would bless. He moved from the global – blessing all of humanity, as in Adam and Noah – and chose to use one family among all the families of the...

Did you ever notice the first encounter of God with a human? (Gen. 1:28). Theologians call this ‘the law of the first mention.’ First mentions seem to set a trajectory for the rest of the Bible – that’s why Genesis is so important to us. Let’s take a closer look. In...

Have you ever noticed how people react when you say, “God bless you,” or “Have a blessed day!” There are a few grinches who return a sour look, but most people smile. Some say, “Thank you!” and express gratitude. Some say in response, “God bless you too.” And...

In the 1990’s a neighborhood evangelism model was introduced into the USA. I served as one of the trainers. In one area, we discovered a church of several hundred that grew out of a neighborhood Bible study. In another example, one couple used Christmas as an...

At the heart of the Christian faith is a prayer that still echoes across generations: “That they may all be one.” (John 17:21) On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus did not pray for comfort or ease for His disciples—He prayed for unity. Not uniformity, but a...

There’s a quiet assumption many of us carry: that if we don’t grow in prayer, nothing really changes. Life keeps moving. Responsibilities get handled. The world spins on. But that assumption isn’t true. There is a cost to not growing in prayer, one that often goes...

By P. Douglas SmallPresident, PRAYER AT THE HEART What We Need Today What we need and what this Roman church needed – was only found in a relationship with God, only “in Christ,” and that we know, is a metaphor for unceasing prayer. It is the desire of God to produce...

By P. Douglas SmallPresident, PRAYER AT THE HEART Paul’s Strategic Purpose in Writing the Book of Romans The backdrop of the book of Romans is wrath. Full stop. Wrath. This should jolt our sensibilities. The wrath of God is being restrained, but only momentarily. We...

By P. Douglas SmallPresident, PRAYER AT THE HEART At the Altar The prayer of Paul, his benediction, stands at the end of the book of Romans. The book of Romans itself is an overview of the book of Leviticus – at least, it is built on the concepts of the five...

By P. Douglas SmallPresident, PRAYER AT THE HEART Sorting through the Relevant Key Words of Romans in Light of God’s Coming Wrath The dominant word in Romans apart from incidental articles is “God,” appearing 153 times. Whatever you have been told about the content...

By P. Douglas SmallPresident, PRAYER AT THE HEART A Parody Imagine that you live in a little valley town. It’s a sweet place with lush meadows and a quiet stream that meanders through the village. There are legends, now treated as rumors, as fairy tales, that the city...