Stephen De La Vega

  The Parthenon. Not the famous one in Greece, but “the world’s only exact-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens” ( https://www.nashvilleparthenon.com/ ). You can visit it in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems like the one in Athens would’ve been a great place to exchange wisdom. It certainly looks like the perfect venue, but the Parthenon is not known for that. There is a place where wisdom and truth was taught at a temple where similar columns once stood. It’s called the Second Temple, a rebuilding of Solomon’s Temple. It’s also known as Herod’s Temple, and it’s where Jesus taught at times when He was in Jerusalem. There, at the Second Temple, Jesus shared His perfect wisdom with Jews and Gentiles alike, depending on where he was on any given day. He spoke about life as He expressed the truth of God to eager listeners ( Mark 12:41 , Mark 14:49 , John10:23 , Luke 19:47-48 ).   I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to hear from Jesus in a few resolutions begi...

We are fearful. Our hearts are heavy. We face real issues. There are legitimate threats – perhaps monumental threats. This is the current reality worldwide. The threat is pandemic. The fear is pandemic. We tremble at the face of genuine risk. How do we go on? Goliath was an obviously formidable opponent. One look. One listen. That’s all it took to accept defeat. That’s how it was for Israel’s army because they couldn’t see past the giant to see their God ( 1 Samuel17:4-11 ). We stand before Goliath Do we shrink in defeat         or do we rise with confidence in the LORD of hosts? David called God the “LORD of hosts” ( 1 Samuel17:45 ). This is like calling Him the God of armies. Israel was often defeated and they were ready for a victory. They were held captive as slave laborers for over 400 years. They wandered their way to the promised land for 40 years – 40 years longer than it should’ve taken! They ...

[This post originally appeared here  with the title:  Wise As Solomon .  I wrote it as a guest blogger for Liz Petruzzi.   Be sure to visit her site  and enjoy her heartfelt blog .] Wisdom was nicely packaged along with a dreamy and delectable fruit dangling from a forbidden tree.   At least, that’s how it seemed for the woman… No, this isn’t the opening lines of a romance novel.   It’s our history.   It’s the framing of an eternity apart from God when you spin it from a crafty serpent’s vantage point.   But the fruit was supposed to be looked upon with reverence and awe toward God, the Creator, by anyone who fears Him. We can read about this fruit in Genesis 2 and 3 and recall the passing of events that determined the fate of humankind.   A universal death sentence, all because someone aspired toward something good (wisdom), but in a way that dismissed a required reverence toward God.   And Adam continued to d...