Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 33

Baker Compact Dictionary of Biblical Studies [Book]

Baker Compact Dictionary of Biblical Studies by Tremper III Longman, Mark L. Strauss (Baker, 2018) The Baker Compact Dictionary of Biblical Studies serves as a handy reference to understanding words and names, heroes and heretics, ancient and modern. Both scholars and skeptics find themselves listed in alphabetical order alongside terms from “abomination of desolation” to “Zoroastrianism.”    Concise, fair, and well-written, the little volume would prove more handy with...

How to Struggle with God and Win

Jacob's brawl at the Jabbok River gives a model of how to do it.

What does it take for God to change you? In the Bible, when the Lord changed Jacob, it took a brawl. Isn’t it often the same with us? But that’s actually good news. 

(Photo: Jabbok River at Peniel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

These times we struggle with the Father represent His grace. It’s never easy, and it often seems rigged in God’s favor.

But Jacob shows us how to win the struggle.

Keep reading this po...

How to Stop Looking for God in the Wrong Places

The solution to the futility you feel is easier than you think.

The world makes promises it can’t keep. It says the reason we’re unhappy is that we just haven’t found the right whatever yet. But if we keep looking, we’ll find it.

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)

The right spouse, the right hairdo, the right salary, the right entertainment system, the right church, the right pastor, the right Bible, the right seminar, etc.

Those without God struggle with this, for sure. But even those of us wh...

The Plains of Moab—Remember What God has Done in Your Life

Looking back offers some of the best help for moving forward.

The time always seems right to receive God’s blessings. After all, we could use some. But sometimes, we need to pause and remember what God has done already. The Plains of Moab give us that much-needed view. 

(Photo: Sunset from Mount Nebo, overlooking the Plains of Moab. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

When we focus so much on the needs of right now, we can lose sight of the fact that God has already brought us s...

Kadesh Barnea — How to Push Your Faith Past the Border of Fear

Two essential decisions will help you move forward.

We come to the line every day. It’s a border. Fear keeps us from stepping over it. What we see feels more compelling than what God has said. Kadesh Barnea was such a place.

(Photo: Kadesh Barnea. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Two decisions at Kadesh Barnea determined the future. Twice God’s people stood on the edge of their future. The first time, the Hebrews made the decision; the second time, Moses did. Nobody made an a...

Why the Way to Shur isn’t the Best Way to Run

God allows your challenge to urge you to take a different journey.

As creatures of habit, we take the same roads to work, school, and church each time we go. We call it efficiency. But we also have a road we take when we’re struggling. Typically it’s the same road each time.

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)

When faced with a problem or a temptation, we tend to retrace our steps and head in a direction we’ve gone a thousand times before.

It’s familiar. It often makes most sense. It’s a well-t...

The Via Dolorosa—and the True Way of Suffering

Looking Beyond Tradition to the Historical Path Jesus Walked

It happens most times I’m in Jerusalem. I hear the question. “You’re telling me this isn’t the true Via Dolorosa, the “Way of Suffering” Jesus walked with His cross from Pilate’s Praetorium to Calvary? Then where is it?” 

(Photo: The Ecce Homo arch spans the Via Dolorosa. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

The Via Dolorosa of today marks an exercise in faith more than fact, and its stops or “stations” reflect Catholic...

How God’s Light Can Help You in Surprising Ways

When you don't know what to do next, do this.

Imagine your life without light. No corrective lenses would help. Without light, even 20/20 eyes see nothing. Why? Your ability to see comes from a source completely outside of yourself. Without light, you have no sight.

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)

So often life feels like we’re groping in the dark for answers. How do we know which way to go? How do we find answers to our questions? That’s why David writes:

The Lord is my light and my salvation....

How God Uses Geography to Shape Your Life

He takes us places to gain what we could get nowhere else.

Think of the places most significant to you. That’s right, the places.  What makes them so special? Most likely, it’s not the places themselves but the events that took place there.

(Photo: Sunset over the Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

In our lives, events make places significant because of memories. But in biblical times, it was often just the opposite. The place itself often played a major role in...

Touring the Holy Landfill and its Surprising Helpful Lessons

Why we can never allow the ho-hum to replace the holy

Sometimes we confuse the holy for the common. Tourism proves it. What sites does your hometown or nearby big city offer tourists? Let me guess. Nobody comes to your city to see the local landfill.

(Photo: Silwan, Iron Age tombs with trash. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

In San Antonio (where I grew up), the Alamo and Riverwalk still draw a crowd. In Dallas (near where I live now), Dealey Plaza ranks near the top. But the...