There is one part of Judges 4-5 that sets the tone for the entire account of Deborah, the only female judge of Israel chronicled in the Bible. Ironically, this snippet doesn’t include Deborah herself, although she does foreshadow wicked Sisera’s death at the hands of a woman. What she doesn’t say is that the woman, […]
She had (almost) everything
When we first meet the woman of Shunem in 2 Kings 4, she’s got a lot going for her. She’s hospitable, welcoming the prophet Elijah into her home for a meal every time he passes through town. She also has resources—enough to build an addition onto her home for Elijah to use as he comes […]
Ruth’s surrendered life
Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). A few months after I moved to Illinois, I was assigned to […]
The flip side of a clean slate
Happy New Year, Illinois Baptist readers! This year marks a pivot for the Brighter Day column. Over the next 12 months, we’ll examine the stories of 12 biblical women. We’ll let their life-changing encounters with God compel us to a fresh commitment to our own churches and communities. Speaking of community, the first woman in […]
Breaking the fourth wall
A recent study by Barna had good news and bad news for increasingly polarized Americans. More than 90% of U.S. adults say they welcome different ways of thinking about important topics. But 51% also say their ideas are usually better than other people’s ideas, up from 31% who said so in 2015. And 36% say […]
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