Randall Johnson

1 Peter 1:3-9, Our Incorruptible Inheritance

What does it mean to be a Christian according to Peter? It means to be full of love for Jesus, believing in him, with an absolute hope in the salvation Jesus is bringing to us (faith, hope and love), because

1 Peter 1:1,2, The Special People of God

Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country…The rules of naturalization vary from country to country but

Zephaniah 3:18-20, The Vindication of All Who Suffered

It would seem that Zephaniah could have ended his prophecy with his description of the joy and glory of the perfect kingdom of peace and safety. But he doesn’t. God has him speak at the last of those

Zephaniah 3:14-17, The Joy of the Kingdom

The appropriate response to the bringing in of God’s glorious kingdom of peace and safety, of proper worship and service, is joy and rejoicing. 14 Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad

Zephaniah 3:9-13, God’s Glorious Future For All His People

There can be no doubt that J.R.R. Tolkien’s celebrated trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, with its epic battle against evil and its triumphant restoration of the true king to the throne, is meant as a depiction

Zephaniah 3:1-8, Judah Is Incorrigible

To be incorrigible is to be “not capable of being cured or reformed,” like a “criminal who should spend the rest of his life behind bars” (Merriam-Webster). Though Yahweh appealed

Zephaniah 2:4-15, Yahweh’s Judgment on the Nations

Zephaniah’s prophecy takes a strong right turn, from talking about the certain judgment coming on Judah and the appeal to her to repent, to a focus on God’s judgment of the nations around Judah and

Zephaniah 2:1-3, Take an Opportunity to Repent

I asked Bing, powered by AI (artificial intelligence), what someone would mean by, “Let’s gather ourselves.” It answered: When someone says, “Let’s gather ourselves,” they are suggesting that

Zephaniah 1:7-18, Judah Sacrificed in Judgment

It seems the phrase “getting off Scot free” comes from the Scandinavian term “skat,” meaning a tax or payment, and an English “redistributive taxation” or “skat”

Zephaniah 1:2-6, The Sweeping Away of Wicked Humanity

When has God put an end to all wicked humans? Only in the flood. But He promised He would never do that again, by a flood that is (Genesis 9:15). Yet here, in Zephaniah’s prophecy, He speaks in absolute

Zephaniah 1:1, The Setting for Zephaniah’s Prophecy

Yahweh gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. (Zephaniah 1:1, New Living Translation

2 Thessalonians 3:6-18, Warning the Idle

If you believed Jesus was going to return any minute, would you go to work today? Would you clean the house? Would you take the kids to school? And if you were a lazy sort to begin with, you might justify

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, The Basis for Successful Christian Living

There is a bit of paradox in the Christian life. We are commanded to obey God and rewarded if we do, yet understand that it is the Lord’s strengthening that enables us to obey. We are told to pray for

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, Help to Stand Firm in the Faith

Paul has quieted the disquieted spirits of his readers about missing the rapture, reminding them that the Day of the Lord could not have come yet, and them miss the rapture, because certain events had

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, The Rejection of the Truth and Believing of the Lie

How is it that many of the Pharisees and other religious leaders in Israel failed to see who Jesus was, after all the miracles he performed and the powerful teaching he did? Jesus tells us that they had

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