Bruce Green
Columnist
Bruce is a writer for The Observer
Bruce Green's Latest
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — I came across a story — perhaps it was more of a parable — you decide for yourself. It was about two girls in their early teens who were best friends. They lived in a small neighborhood that was served by a mom-and-pop...
OPINION — Over the last three weeks, we’ve looked at Paul’s instructions from Ephesians on how we are to walk as disciples of Jesus. We’ve learned that we are to walk: 1) in a manner worthy of our calling (4:1), 2) differently from the world...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — Paul has more to say about the disciples’ walk in Ephesians 5. We are to “walk in the way of love” (v. 2). Love has a way (1 Corinthians 13:1-8) and despite what popular culture tells us, it has very little to do with our...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —Last week we began looking at the second part of Ephesians (chapter 4-6), paying special attention to the five places where Paul uses the word “walk” (ESV). We saw that the first walk had to do with disciples walking in a...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — Paul’s letters often fall into a basic, two-part division. The first part is theology while the second is about turning theology into biography. Paul follows this pattern in Ephesians with the first three chapters focusing...
OPINION — “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my pray-ers.” Paul to the Ephesians in 1:16 of his letter. Here’s one of those verses that’s easy to rush right by. It’s not hard to think of Paul’s statement as being the...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — Last week we looked at the “heavenly realms,” a phrase Paul uses five times in Ephesians. We talked about it being 1) different than heaven, 2) the realm of spirit activity, 3) a place of both good and evil spiritual powers...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — “Heavenly realms” or “heavenly places” (ESV) is a phrase unique to Ephesians. It comes from the Greek word, epouraniois. This word is found in other places in the NT, but only in Ephesians is it translated this way. Paul...
OPINION —Last week we saw an angel telling Daniel about how he was delayed three weeks by “the prince of the Persian kingdom (10:13). He also spoke of “the prince of Greece” (v. 20) and had more to say about Michael—“one of the chief princes” (v....
OPINION —We’ve seen some amazing things in Daniel: a king who becomes animal-like and then later has his humanity restored, three young men are thrown into a furnace so hot it killed those who threw them in — but the young men survive, Daniel...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —I hope the past year has gone well for you and that the new one will be even better. I think New Year’s Day is a great holiday. It tends to get the short end of the attention stick because it comes right after Christmas and...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —While we were enjoying Christmas with our loved ones two years ago, the James Webb telescope was being launched into space. It is effectively a second-generation space telescope (it was initially referred to as the Next...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —Daniel receives his vision of chapter 8 in 550 B.C. In his vision, he is in the “citadel of Susa” — the capital of the Medo-Persian kingdom (see Esther 1:1-3). He sees a ram with two horns, with one horn longer than the...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —You can’t pour from an empty cup, as the saying goes.Most of us are familiar with this saying. More to the point, we are familiar with this feeling. We’ve been there. We know what it is like to be running on empty.That’s...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —Daniel has a dream in the first year of Belshazzar (7:1). The dream is an expansion of the one he interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar in chapter two. Instead of a statue with four parts representing four kingdoms, his dream has...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —The story of David and his desire to build a temple for God is recorded in 2 Samuel 7. By this point in David’s life, a lot of water has passed under his bridge. He’s been: in the pastures as a boy, shepherding his father’s...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —In chapter 6 of Daniel, the Medo-Persians have taken over after defeating Belshazzar and the Babylonians. Daniel (who had to feel like this was déjà vu all over again), lands on his feet. Darius appoints him as one of three...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION — Who would you rather be: a prisoner of war or someone who occupies an important position of power and influence?That doesn’t seem like much of a choice, does it? But what if I told you the prisoner of war is Daniel, and the...