Passover The story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (see Ex. 12:1-32) is the most significant example of a substitutionary sacrifice in the Old Testament. God had inflicted plagues on Egypt in order to cause Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage. Egypt had suffered nine Read more…
In 1741, Charles Jennens gave George Frideric Handel the libretto for the oratorio Messiah. Jennens was a devout Anglican committed to the orthodoxy of the Church of England, particularly the divinity of Christ. The libretto for the Messiah contains no original words by Jennens, but instead consists of texts from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible arranged as recitatives, arias, and choruses. No soloist plays the role of the protagonist. Instead, the soloists, along with the chorus, tell the story of the promised Messiah from the Old Testament and the coming of that Messiah in the New Testament. The first performance of the Messiah was in Dublin on April 13, 1742. Performances of the Messiah have continued on a regular basis, making it one of the most popular pieces in the classical repertoire. The theological inspiration for the Messiah is due to Charles Jennens. The musical inspiration is due to Handel.
READ Genesis 24:10-21 You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit (Job 10:12). I was hiking from the top of Madera Canyon outside of Tucson, Arizona down to a large picnic area. My right knee had been bothering me since my last Read more…
READ Psalm 42 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God (Psalm 42:1). We were hiking in Sabino Canyon outside Tucson, Arizona along Sabino Creek. Most of the year the creek bed is dry with no water flowing in it. Southern Arizona is Read more…
READ 2 Peter 3:3-10 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease (Genesis 8:22). There is something refreshing and exciting about the change of seasons. In the fall, we like to make trips into the Colorado mountains Read more…
READ Genesis 22:15-18 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 22:17). We had driven to Kite Lake at 12,000 feet in the Mosquito Range in Colorado, and started to set up camp for the night. The next day we Read more…
READ Revelation 21:1-5; 22-27 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp (Revelation 21:23). We were climbing Kit Carson Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Range in Colorado. The trail Read more…
READ Exodus 33:18-23 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock (Exodus 33:22). We were climbing El Diente Peak in the San Juan Range in Colorado, and were well above tree line when a severe thunderstorm suddenly broke over our heads. We were Read more…
READ 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). I have peripheral neuropathy. It is called the silent disease because most people have never heard of it. Millions of older adults are affected by it. It starts with numbness in Read more…