Why Was Satan Allowed to Torment Job? (Job 1)
What is curious is that God is impressed not by Satan’s extraordinary abilities but rather by Job’s character.
Articles by Douglas Sean O'Donnell
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14 Principles for Studying the Bible
How can you dig deeper into God’s Word? Understand it better? Apply it well? Keep these fourteen foundational Bible study principles in mind when you read.
What Did Jesus Teach about Total Depravity?
The assumption of universal guilt before God is evident throughout Jesus’s teaching in the Gospels. Proof of this reality is manifold. Below are four evidences to support this claim.
Is the Story of Job Historical? (Job 1)
Was there really a man named Job? Did he live in a land called Uz? Was he perfectly righteous with a perfectly blessed life? Put simply, did the author of Job create the whole drama?
Life is full of moments where our emotions—love, joy, sorrow, confusion, hurt—render us speechless before God. Liturgy provides structured prayers that give us a voice when our own words fall short.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell exposes Job's under-the-surface theological foundations that made him hold up under duress.
7 Tips for Teaching the Bible to Children
Teaching the Bible to children can be a great challenge, but, if done well, it will be deeply rewarding. By modeling your dedication for God’s Word, you can help children grow in their knowledge of and love for it.
Why Does the Gospel of Mark End without Mention of Jesus’s Resurrection?
Mark provides only eight verses to narrate the events after Jesus’s crucifixion, including the women’s angelic encounter at the tomb and the angel’s announcement with no actual resurrection appearances.
Is The Song of Solomon about God's Love or Human Love? (Song of Solomon 1)
Although we are fallen and our sexual desires can easily be distorted and debased, there is still something “very good” about the desire for physical intimacy.
10 Things You Should Know about the Book of Mark
Jesus goes to Calvary to atone for apostate apostles, blasphemous bystanders, taunting thieves, and even hate-spitting, flesh-whipping Roman soldiers.
What Memorizing Scripture Will Do for Your Kids
One of the neglected spiritual disciplines of our time is Scripture memorization. Rarely are churches, families, and individuals taking the time to learn by heart God’s Word.
On January 6, twelve days after Christmas, the Western church celebrates Epiphany. What does it mean and where does it originate?
How to Preach Biblical Narrative
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
I love stories. You love stories. Your congregation loves stories. The unbelieving world loves stories. Below are seven suggestions for preaching a sermon on a biblical narrative.
How Should We Determine the Order of Worship in Our Church Services?
Our worship should be, among other things, God-fearing (Eccl. 5) and bibliocentric (Neh. 8). In other words, our worship should be God-revering and Scripture-saturated.
The ultimate purpose of the book of Psalms is to model for God’s people how and why to praise the LORD.
The Bible, like all good literature, is full of questions. It includes over 3,000 of them—questions that are intended to make us ponder the person and powers of God and our relationship with him.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell suggests three reasons to study the Psalms.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
Parables feature what the whole of the New Testament covers: gospel need, gospel proclamation, gospel response, and gospel ethics. In your preaching, follow Jesus’s pattern.
Throughout Ecclesiastes we are led forward to other answers, other solutions, and other wisdom than the world’s vain promises of satisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment.
We gain insight into the loving nature of the God who inspired this Song, and are made able to love him in return although we constantly require his fidelity, protection, and undeserved love.
10 Things You Should Know about the Genres of the Bible
Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Leland Ryken
Identifying the genre of a text gives us the right terms for interacting with it. Conversely, if we do not interact with a text in terms of its genre traits, we cannot deal adequately with it.
How (and How Not) to Implement Family Devotions
Pray for wisdom. Pray for your children. Pray that your time in the word and prayer will be fruitful and that God will bear the fruit of his Spirit in your family.
If you fail to understand poetic structures and literary devices, you will understand and preach the Psalms improperly.
The biblical proverbs as a whole have a Godward goal: the fear of the Lord. As preachers, our job is to focus on that fear.
A Guided Liturgy on Hope for Your Personal Worship Today
Through these biblical and ancient Christian prayers, offer your adoration and gratitude to God, confess your sins, and ask for help to read his word and live the Christian life.
Remembering the Awesomeness of Immanuel
Jesus is Immanuel. The man Jesus is “God with us.”