Only one Man gets into heaven based on His goodness. The rest of us get in bowing to that Man. - Derek Kistner

When a man is filled with the Spirit he deals largely with the Word of God; the man filled with his own ideas rarely refers to it. -DL Moody

"The great thing to remember is that though our feelings come and go God's love for us does not." -CS Lewis

“The Great Commission won’t be finished with our spare time or spare change.“ Sell everything. Buy the field. Jesus is worthy. -Brian Kim

The New Testament describes our life as pilgrims in this present evil age as a race and a war. Wake up in the morning ready to run and fight. -Stephen Venable

2016 fall

If we lack love for the church, it's ultimately indicative that we lack love for the Head of the church. -Derek Kistner

The four living creatures could fly away with all those wings, but they don't. They could look away with all those eyes, but they don't. -Derek Kistner

"You don't judge a church by its seating capacity but on its sending capacity." - Rick Warren

“The mark of a spiritual man or woman is a listening heart, not a lecturing tongue.” —Gary Thomas

We work from salvation not for salvation. -Derek Kistner

“Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” Luke 14:13. Blessed. Repaid! -John Piper

Covenant and Controversy Part II: The City of the Great King from Covenant & Controversy on Vimeo.

Covenant and Controversy Part One: The Great Rage from Covenant & Controversy on Vimeo.

We "go" to the nations and proclaim the offer of divine amnesty through the cross because the Day will come when God will wage war against them. -Stephen Venable

When we intentionally fill our mouths with gratitude, we'll find that there is not much breath left for grumbling or complaining. -Joshua Hawkins

Christian must never leave off repenting, for I fear he never leaves off sinning - Spurgeon

God doesn’t adjust the calling to fit you; He adjusts you to fit the calling. -Bob Sorge

A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, but he prays because his soul is hungry for God. -Leonard Ravenhill

What do the alt-Right, radical Islam, and Replacement Theology all have in common? - The belief that God has rejected the Jewish people. -Joel Richardson

You've never had a bigger advocate than Jesus...someone who's more confident in your destiny than anyone, and you never will. -Misty Edwards

Something will define the narrative of our thought life. Might as well be the truth found in God's Word. -Derek Kistner

“Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.“ Yes God demands perfection. Hence the need for Christ! -John Piper

Remember your corruption enough to be humbled. But forget whatever stops your progress in Christ. -John Piper

We tend to base our justification on our sanctification, instead of our sanctification on our justification. -Tim Keller

O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God. -Phillips Brooks

I would rather speak five words out of this book than 50,000 words of the philosophers - Spurgeon

Faith which accepts one word of God and rejects another is not faith in God but faith in our own judgment, faith in our own taste - Spurgeon

In John 10, He's the "Good Shepherd." In Hebrews 13, He's the "Great Shepherd." In 1 Peter 5, He's the "Chief Shepherd." You can trust Him. -Corey Russell

The religious see God as useful; gospel-believing Christians see God as beautiful. -Tim Keller

"Grace that does not lead to holiness is not grace at all." -Bill Johnson

In Luke 14:31-33, Jesus portrayed Himself as staging a hostile takeover of Planet Earth. Have you made peace with Him before He invades? -Bob Sorge

There are three persons living in each of us: the one we think we are, the one other people think we are, and the one God knows we are. -Leonard Ravenhill

Jesus is presently at the right hand of the Father, waiting until He returns to sit on His Throne of Glory. - Joel Richardson

“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God.“ Hosea 5:4. O the bondage when desire becomes deed! - John Piper

Psalm 21:1 "The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!" If my joy is based on my circumstances or sense of well-being, then it will constantly fluctuate. Joy is based, not on something in me, but on something in God, I rejoice in the magnificence of God’s strength (not mine). -Bob Sorge

“Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.” -William Barclay

"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable." -GK Chesterton

I will never fault a person for the size of their brain. But the size of their heart is entirely their responsibility. -Bill Johnson

A sermon without Christ...How can it feed the soul? - Spurgeon

Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally—as a burnt child dreads fire - Spurgeon

"Burnout isn't caused by too much work. Burnout is caused by too much work for the wrong reasons." -Mike Bickle

Even as Jesus overcame the world through death, so are we to overcome the world through martyrdom within the context of Gospel proclamation. -Joel Richardson

One of the best ways to learn the Scriptures is to pray the Scriptures. -Derek Kistner

Faith isn't acknowledging God exists. It's a lifestyle demonstrating that you believe He's going to do what He said He'd do. Watch and pray! -Caleb Scofieid

“Beholding Jesus is God's method of transforming us through fascination, trembling fear, and love.” —Allen Hood

Even Moses could not carry these tablets in his hands without breaking them, nor can I do any better than he did - Spurgeon

“My heart’s desire and prayer to God for my Jewish kinsmen is that they may be saved.“ Romans 10:1 May every vestige of antisemitism perish. -John Piper

When God remembers His lovingkindness toward the house of Israel, all the ends of the earth will see His salvation. (Psalm 98:3) Maranatha. -Stephen Venable

The Father isn't seeking for those who do worship, but for those who are worshipers. (John 4:23) - Derek Kistner

Just as there is an appointed hour to judge the earth, there is an appointed time for Zion to be built up once more. Psalm 75:2, 102:13-16 -Stephen Venable

Yes, Jesus hung out with sinners, but He saved them out of their sin, not affirmed them in their sin. -Michael Brown

“Every story of conversion is a story of blessed defeat.” -CS Lewis

Jesus is a Lamb to His friends and a Lion to His enemies. -Bob Sorge

John the Baptist was beheaded for rebuking sinful political leaders. Today many Christians are busy whitewashing those very same sins. -Joel Richardson

For anyone interested: I will be teaching at the Greater Peoria House of Prayer this Saturday on the Glory of Christ and the End of the Age. You are invited.

Worship and Prayer 6-7

Teaching 7-8

Worship and prayer 8-9

-david

Failing in prayer, we fail everywhere. -Leonard Ravenhill

We feel lonely in prayer only until our ache for men's approval is conquered by our ache for Him. Then, even the aching is fellowship. -Dana Candler

There can be no missionary encounter with our culture without a biblically grounded eschatology, without a recovering of a true apocalyptic. -Lesslie Newbigin

If God is not the starting point, then our own perceived emotional needs become the drivers and sole focus of our prayer. -Tim Keller

Love letters from heaven are often sent in black-edged envelopes - Spurgeon

Healed scars make better leaders. -Bob Sorge

You have heard that it was said, “Don’t trust anyone under 30.” But Thomas Oden says, “Don’t trust anyone under 300.” -John Piper

"Jesus warns people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it." -Tim Keller

What I am able to do for another person will be shown me in prayer. -Dietrich Bonehoeffer

When you think of what you are and despair; think also of what He is and take heart - Spurgeon

The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled
and the pride of men brought low:
the LORD alone will be exalted in that Day.
-Isaiah son of Amoz

"The veil of money has never been about how much money you have but about how much money has you." AW Tozer

Intercession is the supreme vocation not because of how it shifts nations but because of how God feels about it. -Lou Engle

“All the liberty we are denied by God’s law is this: he will never grant us liberty by his law to be eternally miserable.” Jonathan Edwards

If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust His fullness, but who can drain a fountain? - Spurgeon

"O! Let us in Thy nail-prints see Our pardon and election free!" Zinzendorf

I refuse to accept an eschatology that exalts pursuing revivalism above the cross. -Joel Richardson

God is not moderately pleasing. He is infinitely pleasing. If we are not intensely pleased, we need forgiveness and healing. Which we do. -John Piper

Frontier missions must always remain central to the church because the supremacy of Jesus is undermined if it has geographic boundary lines. -Venable

"The victorious Christian neither exalts nor downgrades himself. His interests have shifted from self to Christ" AW Tozer

“An angel struck Herod because he did not give God glory. He was eaten by worms and breathed his last.“ Acts 12:23. Yes, it’s that serious. -John Piper

"It's not just any man, or some hill in the Middle East that we're stumbling over. It's that Man. It's that Hill." -Covenant and Controversy

To any Peoria ACs: I will be teaching a class at church called "The Supremacy of Christ" starting Sunday October 2nd. There will be a signup sheet in the foyer. Space is limited to 25.

Where death finds you, eternity will keep you.-Shelley Hundley

summer 2016

God has chosen one man, Jesus of Nazareth, to rule the earth in justice. Our role as believers is to bear witness to Him and His coming day. -Josh Hawkins

Christians spend more on annual audits of churches and agencies than on all their workers in the non-Christian world. -Justin D. Long

"Christianity is not a matter of persuading people of particular ideas, but of inviting them to share in the greatness of Christ." -Ignatius

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit." Psalm 51.10-12 Our mood/attitude is directly affected by our sin. Holiness makes us happy. Sin spoils everything. It's really that simple. -Joshua Hawkins

“If my preaching of this cross is not an offense to the natural man, I am misrepresenting it.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Above everything else, the reason replacement theology is so detestable is because it strips Jesus of His full inheritance. -Joel Richardson

“Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.“ Romans 6:14 Hence the evidence of grace is not sinning. -John Piper

I think one of the biggest reasons why Christians struggle to read their Bible regularly is because they do not see it as a coherent story. May God help us to open His Word and marvel at His faithfulness as we see the story of Israel, His covenants, the cross, and the coming glory. -Joshua Hawkins

"The art of worship has been lost and in its place has come the strange and foreign thing called 'program'" AW Tozer

Have we come to believe that progress lies in plans and programs rather than prayer and power? We need to return to New Testament apostolic wisdom. -Stephen Venable

Instead of getting lost in the tale of the ages, a "quiet time" has somehow become about picking a New Testament verse or Psalm to brighten up our day. -Joshua Hawkins

What is the will of God for your life? John 6:40 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 are explicit: your sanctification now and your resurrection on the Last Day. -Stephen Venable

Scripture reveals the heart of God while exposing the heart of man making its study a captivating blend of beauty and conviction. -Derek Kistner

I used to think that barrenness came from busyness, but the truth is that busyness comes from barrenness. - Devern Fromke

"Lacking prayer, none of the other ordinances of God (Eucharist, Scripture, hearing the Word preached) are deeply nourishing" -John Wesley

"Just like I will never finish knowing Him, I will never finish loving Him." - Constant Tonnelier

“The infallible test of spiritual integrity, Jesus says, is your private prayer life.” —Tim Keller

"For the Lord is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed" 1 Samuel 2:3 Always watching. Always weighing. Be wise. -Stephen Venable

In John 1:36 it's while the forerunner was looking at Jesus, He said, "Behold the Lamb." Principle: we will proclaim what we look at and behold. -Stuart Greaves

Paul the apostle time and again requested prayer for himself and in doing so demonstrated it's apostolic to ask for prayer. -Derek Kistner

Remarkably, Jesus is given "glory" by God (John 17:5,24) despite the fact that God does not share His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). -Matt Candler

If we're going to be politically incorrect then let's contend for the accuracy of the gospel which is the true political incorrectness. -Stuart Greaves

Any one who says doctrine doesn't matter, isn't paying attention - read 2nd Timothy -Stuart Greaves

"Christianity isn't about living your dreams--it's about living the cross." -David Sliker

Trying to maintain respectability is one of the main hindrances to becoming radical in our love for Jesus. -Derek Kistner

“Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees—he comes face to face with God.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“It is impossible to want people to know God and not teach them how to pray.” —Isaac Bennett

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. —Luther

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.” — Robert Murray M’Cheyne

In Christ, multitudes who have known tremendous injustices in this age, will be made rulers over cities in the age to come. -Joel Richardson

We don't have to appease Someone who is already fully in love with us. -Derek Kistner

Free worship album I recorded:   all the trees will clap their hands

“Worship and worry cannot live in the same heart: they are mutually exclusive.” —Ruth Bell Graham

Our preaching must be set in the context of the story as a whole. In other words, it must be biblical preaching. -Lesslie Newbinin

"Nothing you have not given away will ever really be yours." -CS Lewis

Christians have our own way of protesting national turmoil. We gather, go to our knees, apologize, and call upon the mercy of God. - Bob Sorge

What was it like for John, when he was shown the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem, to see his name in large letters on one of them? -Bob Sorge

“Untold millions are still untold.” -John Wesley

Lack of clarity and simplicity concerning the idea of justification is largely due to a failure in understanding the forensic nature of the day of the Lord. We are not justified from a theological concept of human depravity into a nebulous theological system of atonement. Rather, we are justified from real sins that have done real damage to a real creation before a real Judge in anticipation of a real day of judgment. That day will not be “like” a law court; it will be a real courtroom, with real charges brought against real transgressions, which have really angered a real King and Judge. -John P Harrigan

There is a “last day” (John 6:40) of this “present evil age” (Galations 1:4) before “the age to come” (Mark 10:30). Real points on the horizon of time. -Stephen Venable

The current spirituality of the church treats Jesus like He is dessert for the soul. Jesus said He was bread and water - absolutely essential. -Stephen Venable

Praise erupting from the entirety of creation is often tied in scripture to the salvation and restoration of Zion. Grapple with the implications. -Stephen Venable

"My mouth is filled with Your praise and with Your glory all day long" Psalm 71:8 O Lord, that this would be true of our speech. -Stephen Venable

We ought to be grateful for occasional griefs if they preserve us from chronic hardheartedness - Spurgeon

The point of revival is not an American moral utopia, but an exaltation of a Man, Jesus, in all the earth. Away with any lesser vision! -Jared Olsen

“I would rather have prayer without words than words without prayer.” —E. M. Bounds

Leading supersessionist theologians devote their entire lives to proving that Israel is no longer relevant and don't see this as ironic. -Joel Richardson

"Obedience is not earning God's love; it's the way we express our love to God" -Mike Bickle

Job to God: “I don’t know how to process my pain over the loss of my children.” God to Job: “I know what you mean. Me too.” -Bob Sorge

There is no real "falling in love with Jesus" without falling in love with every single one of His words. -Derek Kistner

"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." // When you look at your friends, do they remind you of Jesus? -Joshua Hawkins

          Can we not accept the straightforward, face-value teaching of the Old Testament? As a whole, it is clearly apocalyptic, messianic, and Israelitic. In the context of a new heavens and new earth, these things constitute the “glory” of the age to come. Nowhere in the New Testament is this glory questioned; rather it is universally assumed and affirmed (cf. Matt. 19:28; 24:30; 25:31; Rom. 8:18; 1 Cor. 15:43; 2 Cor. 4:17; Eph. 1:18; Phil. 3:21; Col. 3:4; 2 Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 4:13; 5:10; Jude 24). The Messiah came the first time to suffer and bear sin. Why would this simple fact alter the Jewish hope? 
          The various Christoplatonic eschatologies held throughout the church’s history inherently contradict the Old Testament’s unequivocal vision of divine glory. Rather, the New Testament affirms the hope of the Old Testament, arguing simply that God sent his Messiah first as a sacrifice for the sin of humanity before sending his Messiah again to execute judgment upon the sin of humanity (cf. Acts 3:18–26; Rom. 5:1–9; Heb. 10:12–13). Therefore Jew and Gentile alike must repent of their sins, accept God’s predetermined atonement as the means of escaping divine wrath, and thus together inherit the glory of eternal life. Though lacking the theological sophistication of the modern academy and its inaugurational refinement, I find this to be the common-sense approach to the Scriptures that most reasonably corresponds to the apostolic witness in its premodern, first-century Jewish context. -John P Harrigan 

The city that was the apostle's source of continual grief (Romans 9:2) will one day be the joy of all the earth (Psalm 48:2) -Stuart Greaves

Your faith in the blood of the cross gives God the kingdom capital He needs to present you faultless before His throne with great glory. -Bob Sorge

Referring to His covenant to Abraham, the Lord used the strongest phrase possible: (min olam v’ad olam) “from everlasting to everlasting." -Joel Richardson

The forerunner message is not eschatological because it goes beyond the ‘simple gospel’ - rather the gospel is inherently eschatological. -Stephen Venable

Jesus and the apostles when it came to salvation never said, "pray a prayer." They did say shift your confidences and allegiance (repent,faith). -Stuart Greaves

if the gospel is true, it must be preached. if a Day has been fixed, the nations must be warned. these are imperatives, not opinions. -Stephen Venable

If loving God is really the most important thing in our life, we will quit fighting against the ways He helps that love grow by purifying us. -Shelly Hundley

I think we do not attach sufficient importance to the restoration of the Jews. We do not think enough about it.  But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this.  I imagine you cannot read the Bible without seeing clearly that there is to be an actual restoration of the Children of Israel. -C. H. Spurgeon

"We should never be content with anything less than what is described as possible to the Christian in the New Testament." - Lloyd-Jones

Devotions are barren because we're barren. Prayer is hard because we're hard. Worship is dry because we're dry. God is never the problem. -Derek Kistner

I'm regularly struck by how seemingly more energy believers have about the condition of the nation than the Church's condition and her destiny. -Stuart Greaves

The main reason why we don't have revival is we are content to live without it. -Leonard Ravenhill

The New Testament seeks no new revelation of the kingdom of God, but rather preserves the simple expectation of a Jewish messianic kingdom. The New Testament is primarily concerned with the means of attaining the hope of the kingdom (cf. Acts 26:7; Rom. 9:30; Phil. 3:11; etc.). The new covenant is concerned with the sacrifice of the cross, in contrast to the sacrifices of the old covenant (cf. Rom. 3:25; Heb. 8–10; 1 Peter 3:18; etc.). The “promised eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15) of the kingdom is never in question (cf. 1 Cor. 15:50; 2 Tim. 4:1; 2 Peter 1:11; etc.). The New Testament presents a straightforward account of the suffering of the Messiah as an atonement for the forgiveness of sins before the coming of the Messiah in glory for the establishment of his Israelitic kingdom (cf. Luke 24:26; Heb. 9:28; 1 Peter 1:11). -John P Harrigan

A reliable measuring stick we can use to see if we're progressing in the faith is to ask those closest to us if we're growing in love. -Derek Kistner

The attempt to argue for a purely “spiritual” kingdom in this age, in contrast to a “visibly manifest” kingdom in the age to come, is Platonism at its finest. There is no immaterial world seeking to manifest itself in materiality. Rather, God sits enthroned over the heavens and earth, waiting in mercy to judge the living and the dead. This age remains this age (Gal. 1:4; Titus 2:12), essentially characterized by the cross (Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19–21); and the age to come remains the age to come (cf. Eph. 1:21; Heb. 2:5), essentially characterized by judgment (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). Where in the Scriptures does the messianic kingdom ever precede the day of judgment? Rather, divine judgment always initiates the kingdom (cf. Ps. 2; Isa. 24; Dan. 7; Amos 9; Hab. 2–3; Zeph. 2–3; Zech. 12–14; Mal. 3–4).  -John P Harrigan

The Bible doesn't promise legal liberties to Christians. It promises persecutions. -Joshua D Jones

John stood up to Caesar, the world’s most powerful man. But one look at Jesus (on Patmos, Revelation 1) leveled him like a dead man. -Bob Sorge

"Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home...there the majestic Lord will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams..." - Isaiah 33:20-21

“The Sermon on the Mount is the clearest prescription of what Christian community should look like and reflect.” —Stuart Greaves

We are more evil than we could have ever feared, but we are more loved than we ever could have imagined. -Erwin Lutzer

spring 2016

“The mouths of liars will be stopped.“ Psalm 63:11. Take heart, dear slandered friend. And do not join them. -John Piper

"We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It take deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.” —Francis Chan

“Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to faultfinding.” —Corrie Ten Boom

"If Jesus only died, we would be forgiven but dead. If He only rose,we would be alive but separated. He ascended and poured out Holy Spirit to be in us" -Corey Russel

"I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." -Jesus of Nazareth Psalm 46:10

The most worshipful saints think much on the cross. It's their constant meditation and they never grow weary of meditating on it. -Mike Bickle

But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare. -Justin Martyr //Dialogue with Trypho

“Jesus didn’t protest Rome; he cleansed the temple. This should give Christians a good idea where God wants us starting a revolution.” -Matt Smethurst

Complaining expresses the accusations of the enemy. -Mike Bickle

There isn't a more kind message than this: "Repent, renounce sin, follow Jesus." The prophets of old, John the Baptist, Jesus, the early apostles—they all had the same message: "Repent." I can think of no greater peril than a lost world encountering a church unwilling to say it's lost or how to be found. -Derek Kistner

“The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.” Thomas Watson

My message on Jesus the Intercessor/Mediator from Isaiah 59 is available here.

Ultimately any message that doesn't call us to embrace the cross and die to ourselves is just another form of the prosperity (anti)-gospel. -Joel Richardson

"The history of missions is the history of answered prayer." – Samuel Zwemer

At the cross, Jesus made intercession for the transgressors and yet He did not open His mouth but was silent. -Corey Russell

While others are congratulating themselves, I lie humbly at the foot of Christ's cross and marvel that I am saved at all - Spurgeon

Though God reveals himself through different names in the OT—e.g., “LORD-Hosts/Armies” (Heb. yhvh ṣĕbāʾôt; cf. 1 Sam. 1:11; Ps. 24:10; 80:4; Isa. 1:24; 6:5; Jer. 9:15; 48:1; Hos. 12:5; Amos 3:13; Mic. 4:4; Hag. 2:6; Zech. 1:3); “LORD-Shepherd” (Heb. yhvh rāʿâ; cf. Gen. 49:24; Ps. 23:1; 80:1; Ezek. 34:2); “LORD-Heals” (Heb. yhvh rāpāʾ; cf. Ex. 15:26; Jer. 3:22; Isa. 30:26; Ps. 103:3); “LORD-Jealous” (Heb. yhvh qannāʾ; cf. Ex. 20:5; 34:14; Deut. 4:24; Josh. 24:19); “God-Almighty” (Heb. ʾēl šadday; cf. Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 49:25; Ex. 6:3; Num. 24:4; Ruth 1:20; Job 6:4; Ps. 68:14; 91:1; Isa. 13:6; Ezek. 1:24; 10:5; Joel 1:15); “God-Supreme” (Heb. ʾēl ʿelyôn; cf. Gen. 14:18ff.; Ps. 7:17; 47:2; 57:2; Dan. 7:18ff.); “God-Everlasting” (Heb. ʾēl ʿôlām; cf. Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:1ff.; Jer. 10:10; Isa. 26:4); “God-Living” (Heb. ʾēl ḥay; cf. Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; Ps. 42:2; 84:2; Jer. 10:10); “God-Salvation” (Heb. ʾēl yēšaʿ; cf. 1 Chron. 16:35; Ps. 65:5; 79:9; 85:4) [as well as some infrequent names, e.g., “Lord-Peace” (Judg. 6:24), “Lord-Provide” (Gen. 22:14), “Lord-Righteousness” (Jer. 23:6; 33:16), etc.]

—no name is more prominent and central to the revelation of his nature and character than “LORD/God-Israel” (Ex. 5:1; 24:10; 32:27; 34:23; Num. 16:9; Josh. 7:13,19f.; 8:30; 9:18f.; 10:40,42; 13:14,33; 14:14; 22:16,24; 24:2,23; Judg. 4:6; 5:3,5; 6:8; 11:21,23; 21:3; Ruth 2:12; 1 Sam. 1:17; 2:30; 5:7f.,10f.; 6:3,5; 10:18; 14:41; 20:12; 23:10f.; 25:32,34; 2 Sam. 7:27; 12:7; 23:3; 1 Kings 1:30,48; 8:15,17,20,23,25f.; 11:9,31; 14:7,13; 15:30; 16:13,26,33; 17:1,14; 22:53; 2 Kings 9:6; 10:31; 14:25; 18:5; 19:15,20; 21:12; 22:15,18; 1 Chron. 4:10; 5:26; 15:12,14; 16:4,36; 17:24; 22:6; 23:25; 24:19; 28:4; 29:10; 2 Chron. 2:12; 6:4,7,10,14,16f.; 11:16; 13:5; 15:4,13; 20:19; 29:7,10; 30:1,5; 32:17; 33:16,18; 34:23,26; 36:13; Ezra 1:3; 3:2; 4:1,3; 5:1; 6:14,21f.; 7:6,15; 8:35; 9:4,15; Ps. 41:13; 59:5; 68:8,35; 69:6; 72:18; 106:48; Isa. 17:6; 21:10,17; 24:15; 29:23; 37:16,21; 41:17; 45:3,15; 48:1f.; 52:12; Jer. 7:3,21; 9:15; 11:3; 13:12; 16:9; 19:3,15; 21:4; 23:2; 24:5; 25:15,27; 27:4,21; 28:2,14; 29:4,8,21,25; 30:2; 31:23; 32:14f.,36; 33:4; 34:2,13; 35:13,17ff.; 37:7; 38:17; 39:16; 42:9,15,18; 43:10; 44:2,7,11,25; 45:2; 46:25; 48:1; 50:18; 51:33; Ezek. 8:4; 9:3; 10:19f.; 11:22; 43:2; 44:2; Zeph. 2:9; Mal. 2:16; cf. Matt. 15:31; Luke 1:68).

It takes a forehead of flint to reject the ethnical character and commitment of the God of the Bible. -John P Harrigan