Observations from the Word by The Barking Fox

A Dictionary for Honor

If truth is relative, then we cannot have a universal code of conduct other than the law of the jungle. If there is objective truth, then there is a standard of conduct that not only shapes our civilization, but links us to our ancestors from the beginning of time.
Exodus 18:1-20:26; Isaiah 6:1-7:5, 9:6-7; 2 Samuel 11:1-26; Matthew 6:17-37; Romans 7:7-8; Hebrews 11:40
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: A Dictionary for Honor
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo of dictionaries by Hiroaki Maeda, Tokyo, March 13, 2008, via Flickr. 

A Kingdom RSVP

What's the point of God calling many people when few are chosen? Is it that He's too selective, or does the choosing depend on how we respond?
Exodus 13:17-17:16; Judges 4:4-5:31; Hosea 11:1; Matthew 22:1-14
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: A Kingdom RSVP
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo by Julie Jordan Scott, June 19, 2014, via Flickr. 

Plowing with Vision

Yeshua told us not to look back after we have put our hands to the plow. Of course that means to be completely committed to living a godly life, but where does this godly life take us? It might be smart to have some idea where we are going so that our plowing flows in the right direction.
Exodus 10:1-13:16; Jeremiah 46:13-28; 1 Kings 20:1-43; Luke 9:57-62; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Hebrews 11:13-17
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Plowing with Vision
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo by Pat Henson, March 21, 2009, via Flickr. 

A Window for the Sparrows

All life is precious, but is some life more precious than others? Maybe it's best we leave that question up to the Creator. In the meantime, let's do our best to value the life we have from Him, and the lives He brings around us.
Exodus 1:1-6:1; Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23; Psalm 44:20-22; Matthew 10:29-31
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: A Window for the Sparrows
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo: Little Rosie and the Sparrow, by Hash Milhan, April 26, 2011, via Flickr.

Good Cows and Bad Cows

We can't escape evil. It's a constant feature in this fallen world. Whether it's the evil inclinations inside us, or the evil circumstances around us, we have the choice to embrace it, fight it, or endure it. The closer we are to our Creator, the greater the chance we will choose wisely.
Genesis 41:1-44:17; 1 Kings 3:15-4:1; Deuteronomy 30:19-20; Proverbs 30:15-16; Matthew 13:24-30
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Good Cows and Bad Cows
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo by Ian Livesey, Lancaster, England, April 29, 2021, via Flickr.

Give Me [insert desired location] Or I Die

In the midst of our busy daily lives, does it ever occur to us that God intends for us to be His agents of change? This is a matter of prayer and action: without the action, the prayer may go unanswered; and without the prayer, the action may go astray.
Genesis 18:1-22:24; 2 Kings 4:1-37; Isaiah 61:1-2; Matthew 11:4-6, 20-23, 12:38-42; Luke 4:16-19
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Give Me [insert desired location] Or I Die
Music: "St. Anne’s Reel,” Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum, YouTube Audio Library, February 2020. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/qEGDnhDDV8c?si=L2PkrRDfBY3xK3As.
Illustration: John Knox Admonishing Mary Queen of Scots. Engraving by John Burnet after a work of Sir William Allan, 1824, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

What Matters in the Clutter

How do we know what God is doing in our day? It's hard enough to pay attention to all the important things in our lives, so how do we manage that and still have time and energy to discern where God is at work? Maybe it's not so much a matter of knowing what He is doing, but rather getting to know Him. 
Genesis 12:1-17:27; Isaiah 40:27-41:16; 1 Kings 19:11-18; Proverbs 29:18; Hosea 4:6; Zechariah 4:10; Luke 19:41-44; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: What Matters in the Clutter
Music: "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms,” Zechariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, December, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/XsEfC1mjI8o?si=5dmtgiYL2Ig0pk8j.
Illustration: The Political Cartoon for the Year. United States, 1775. Cartoon shows George III and Lord Mansfield, seated on an open chaise drawn by horses labeled "Obstinacy" and "Pride," about to lead Britain into an abyss represented by the war with the American colonies. (Library of Congress #97514880).

One World Government Done Right

Is one world government a bad thing? That's what we might conclude from Christian eschatology, and even from patriotic nationalism. But is it still a bad thing if global government is God's idea? 
Genesis 6:9-11:32; Isaiah 54:1-55:5; Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Daniel 2:1-45; Micah 4:1-5; Matthew 11:11-15; Acts 17:26-28; Revelation 11:15
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: One World Government Done Right
Music: "Future King of Heaven,” Zachariah Hickman, YouTube Audio Library, April 21, 2021. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/bteCg7aqqX0?si=0ToVaXQxcRHbMV1N.
Photo: The Blue Marble from Apollo 17. Image courtesy NASA Johnson Space Center Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, December 7, 1972.