Bruce Green

Embracing Your Interruptions OPINION — A young man and woman were in love and wanted to get married. The young man asked her father for his blessing. The man told him, “Before I can give you my blessing, you have to pass the test.” The young man...

Gloriously More OPINION — When Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine were engaged in 1796, he gave her a ring composed of two tear shaped stones — a diamond and a blue sapphire set in opposite directions on a slim gold band. Each stone weighs slightly...

It seemed good to me OPINION — When Luke was writing the introduction to his gospel, he noted two groups of people:1) “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (1:2), and2) “many” who were compiling “a narrative of...

Meditating on God's Word OPINION — One of my favorite borrowed sayings goes something like this: “Our goal isn’t to get through the Bible as much as it is for the Bible to get through us.” I like that because I know from personal experience how...

After Dinner Conversation OPINION — In Luke 22:24-32, Jesus had an after-dinner conversation with His disciples that continues to speak to His followers today. In that conversation:Jesus taught about true greatness. As He instituted the Lord’s...

Are your feet touching bottom OPINION — Our grandsons (7, 9, and 11) were watching a water polo match during the Olympics. The players were jostling for position, splashing up a storm, all while trying to either throw a ball into the net or prevent...

First things first OPINION — I went to play disc golf at the Tumble Tree course at our sportsplex. Due to the heat and humidity, I was out there early — about 6:45 in the morning. I applied sunscreen, put an extra shirt in my cart, got my rosin...

The Challenging Beatitudes OPINION — The Beatitudes are not spiritual fast food. As with most of the Scripture, they are not well suited to our drive-through, microwave mentality. Rather, they should be thought of as a holiday feast to be lingered...

I have a job for you OPINION — Isaiah’s ministry ended somewhere around the time of Hezekiah’s death in 687 BC. Sixty years later, Jeremiah was called to his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah 627 BC/1:2). It would span the final...

Staying humble and hungry OPINION — Most of us have heard of the John Godfrey Saxe poem, The Blind Men and the Elephant. It is based on a traditional Indian parable and tells of six blind men from Indostan who came across an elephant. As each...

Rce OPINION — The psalmist supplies us with several reasons for praising God in Psalm 103. At the start of his list is “forget not all of His benefits” (v. 2). In v. 3-8 he enumerates some of those. Applicationally speaking, this is a part of the...

If it's not broken, God hasn't fixed it OPINION — Psalm 51 is a challenging psalm. There’s the historical context (it is likely written by David after Nathan exposed his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah). Then there’s our context...

Praying Wisely OPINION — A couple in their sixties was walking along the beach when they spied an object hidden in the sand. They uncovered it, knocked the sand off, and identified it as an old, old lamp. Before they knew it — POOF! — a genie had...

God prepares a King OPINION — David’s ascension to the throne was no easy thing. It took time (about a decade), courage and endurance on his part. We see God prepare him for this in 1 Samuel 16:14ff. The setting is this: David had been anointed by...

The significance of the insignificant OPINION —It’s clear from 1 Samuel 1 that Hannah had a lowly status. From the world’s point of view, she was insignificant. She was married to a man named Elkanah. But she was not the only one married to him....

Ten Lepers and Two Cookies OPINION —Our six-year-old grandson (Bryant) lives a few states away, but I talk with him and his two brothers every Sunday night. Our conversations revolve around sports, bad jokes (“Why couldn’t the pirate recite the...

Fallen walls and broken gates, part two OPINION — Last week we looked at some lessons from the Battle of Jericho and suggested there was more to the story — a story within a story, as it were. This story has to do, not with the Israelites, but with...

Fallen walls and broken gates, part one OPINION — There are lots of lessons to learn from the battle of Jericho in Joshua 6. Here are some of them: The walls fell to servants, not lords. From beginning to end, God specified how He wanted everything...

Bouncing on Pharaoh’s Knee OPINION — As we come to Exodus 3, an indeterminate amount of time has elapsed since Joseph’s family moved to Egypt. More important than this gap of time is the change in leadership that had occurred. Egypt was no longer...

Friends, followers and community OPINION — Do you recognize where these slogans come from?“Caring is part of our package.”“Find your family at …"Did you guess Jack’s? If so, you only get partial credit because the business’s name is actually Jack’s...