nehemiah – Page 4 – 300 words a day

Nehemiah talks about focus

This is from my weekly enewsletter about Nehemiah called “A Great Work“. Nehemiah is talking here: “What you are reading is a God-driven case study of how we built the wall first and then the nation. What you are reading leaves out all the parts about my momentary doubts, my hesitation before plunging in. Because […]

by Jon Swanson

You, too, can be a Bible scholar

Dr Wes is a Bible scholar. When I got my first full-time college teaching job, he had been teaching there as long as I had been alive. He helped translate part of the New International Version. He taught Greek and Hebrew and Romans and Theology. I once sat in a meeting where people were discussing his […]

by Jon Swanson

Getting help with giving thanks.

“I need your help again,” I told Nehemiah. “I’m having a really hard time with Thanksgiving.” “Levites,” he said. I think that’s what he said. His mouth was full of early pumpkin pie. He finished his bite and took a sip of coffee. “Go find a Levite. They know all about thanksgiving.” I sat quietly. […]

by Jon Swanson

Sometimes the right people are already in the room

I’ve been talking with Nehemiah on Sunday afternoons in our newsletter, “A Great Work.” A couple weeks ago, we were talking about how he mobilized a group of people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. I decided to share an excerpt of that conversation today. ** “Lesson two: Most of the people rebuilding […]

by Jon Swanson

Living subtitles

“They read from the book of the Law of God, translating it and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.” Nehemiah 8:8 That’s how the writer of Nehemiah describes the scene. People are gathered around an open-air stage in Jerusalem. Ezra, the scribe, reads from the books of Moses. Spread along […]