by Barry Creamer | Jun 21, 2023 | Devotionals
As an undergraduate, I learned from John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 14 just how daunting, beautiful, provocative, and comforting poetry can be. The prayer-in-verse is below. Below that, for those who want it, is a paraphrase—not to touch its boundless nuances, but to bridge...
by Barry Creamer | Jun 14, 2023 | Devotionals
Some things are hard to believe. Isaiah prophesies that the powerful kingdoms harassing Judah from the north will be overturned within a generation. All Ahaz needs is faith: “If you do not establish your faith, you will not be established” (Isaiah 7:9b). Knowing...
by Barry Creamer | Jun 7, 2023 | Devotionals
A genealogy culminating in Noah and his sons as the new hope for mankind is about its progenitor: Adam. “This is the book of the genealogy of Adam” (Genesis 5:1). A lineage arriving at the world divided in Babel is about its progenitors: Noah and his sons. “Now this...
by Barry Creamer | May 31, 2023 | Devotionals
Is a demon involved when something bad happens? Many of the people Jesus restores from physical and spiritual infirmities are oppressed by demons (e.g., Matthew 12:23, Matthew 8:23ff). Satan tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11), and Jesus warns Peter that the adversary...
by Barry Creamer | May 24, 2023 | Devotionals
In ancient Israel, as much of the Mediterranean Basin, with no police, no formal court system, justice comes at the hand of a kinsman-redeemer, an avenger (same term). In one case, you are involved in the tragic but accidental death of your neighbor. His brother, the...
by Barry Creamer | May 17, 2023 | Devotionals
Observing the sun through a telescope has blinded a lot of people and melted a lot of optics, and therefore requires a filter to eliminate 99.999%—that’s the real proportion; not hyperbole—of incoming light. So just before dawn I cover my scope’s aperture with solar...
