Bruce Green
Columnist
Bruce is a writer for The Observer
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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...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —Last week we saw from Daniel 3 how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made the courageous decision on the plain of Dura not to bow down to the image Nebuchadnezzar had made. They doubled down on this when the king offered them...
BY BRUCE GREEN OPINION —The scene shifts in Daniel 3 to the plain of Dura. Nebuchadnezzar has gathered bureaucrats there from all over the kingdom (v. 2). Per Daniel 1, this includes people from “all of the nations and peoples of every language”...
RELIGION —In Daniel 2, we have the first of the five visions found in the book. God initially gave the vision to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream and enables Daniel (in contrast to the king’s spiritual advisors), to tell the king what that dream is and...
BY BRUCE GREEN RELIGION —Chapter two of Daniel is part of the historical section of the book (1-6) that features what are often referred to as “court stories.” These stories typically show how Daniel and his friends allow God to work in their lives...
RELIGION —We took an excursion last week to make some applications from Daniel to our lives. We need to close the loop on the difficult situation Daniel and his friends are in in the first part of chapter one. The young teenagers are away from...
BY BRUCE GREEN RELIGION —Last week we looked at the dilemma Daniel and his friends were in (1:1-7). This raises a question worth thinking about: What would we do if God called us to be a Daniel? What would we do if God called us away from our...
BY BRUCE GREEN There’s nothing on Tik Tok, Netflix or Disney that can begin to compare with the grandeur and sweeping trajectory of God’s unfolding story. It deals with heaven and earth and everything in between. It touches on time and eternity. It...
BY BRUCE GREEN RELIGION —We recently had new flooring installed in our house. It wasn’t a choice but a necessity. Our washing machine expired and as a parting gift left us with a couple of inches of water throughout much of the house, ruining the...
RELIGION — The first chapter of James deals with trials and temptations (v. 2, 12, 13). This resonates with everyone because no one is immune from either of these things. They were a part of Jesus’ life, and they are a part of ours. I’d like...
RELIGION — We’re not surprised when a Jewish disciple writing Jewish people speaks of blessing as James does in 1:12 of his letter. Here’s the complete verse from the NIV: Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood...
RELIGION — Here’s a quick look at some context for the letter of James that I think will be helpful for framing its words and applying its teaching in our lives. James is writing to dispersed Jewish people experiencing trials. The history of...
RELIGION — “The best version of yourself” is a phrase that’s worked its way into just about every corner of our culture. I think it’s fair to say it is one of the mantras of today’s generation — if not the mantra. One of the things I...
RELIGION — “You don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.” I majored in history when I was in college (I tell our grandchildren it was easy because there was a lot less of it to learn back then.). Maybe that’s the reason my ears perk up...