Observations from the Word by The Barking Fox

Forty Acres and A Desk

Most people probably don't think about their inheritance until their parents grow old and they begin to wonder what's being left to them. Maybe a better way to think about inheritance is how to help others gain what is theirs. 
Numbers 30:2-36:13; Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:1-16; Deuteronomy 2:24-25, 3:1-11; Joshua 5:9-12; Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 21:1-4
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Forty Acres and A Desk
Music: "Reuben’s Train,” Nat Keefe with the Bow Ties, YouTube Audio Library, November 2018. Listen to the complete audio on Youtube at https://youtu.be/Obfeo2CzkCY. 
Photo: This desk belonged to my grandfather and father. Now it's my desk, and a memorial to the legacy they passed on to their children. (Photo by The Barking Fox, April 3, 2023.).

I May Have Been That Guy

Maturity sometimes brings a degree of embarrassment when we realize that our less mature thoughts and actions once caused trouble in our relationships. While we're dealing with that embarrassment, we can take heart that our Creator is glad we have finally come to understand what He's been waiting a long time for us to figure out.  
Numbers 25:10-29:40; Jeremiah 1:1-2:3; Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 12:15:21; Galatians 3:23-29
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: I May Have Been That Guy
Music: "Ki Mi Tzion (Out of Zion),” Samuel and Benjamin Wearp, 2023. The full recording is available at https://youtu.be/Q1ZeE8JXHXQ. 
Photo by puuikibeach, June 19, 2012, via Flickr.

What Good Parents Do

God is our Heavenly Father, or so we learn from the Bible, but what exactly does that mean? Is there something about God's parenting process that could help us not only with our own children, but with the course of our lives?
Numbers 19:1-25:9; Micah 5:7-6:8; Exodus 4:22; Leviticus 26:44-45; 1 Chronicles 5:1-2; Jeremiah 6:30-34, 31:8; Matthew 6:9-13; John 3:16-21, 17:1-26; Colossians 1:15-20 
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: What Good Parents Do
Music: "Father of Light,” Celtic Worship, Morningtide, Integrity Music 2021. Celtic Worship’s music is available at https://celticworship.co.uk/. 
Picture: A father walks with his daughter near the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Photo by Kevin Harber, March 19, 2011, via Flickr.

Genuinely Human

Which is better: to be right, or to keep a relationship? We can choose an answer now, but it's likely to be the wrong one at some point. Every relationship is unique, and some need to be broken. The real challenge is to know which is which, and when. 
Numbers 16:1-18:32; 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22; Psalm 46:10; Ezekiel 33:10-11; Romans 12:9-21; 1 Corinthians 5:9-6:8; 1 Timothy 2:1-6 
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Genuinely Human
Music: "Revive Me,” Mason Clover, Perception, Abiron Records 2019. Mason Clover’s music is available at https://www.masonclover.com/. 
Picture: Argument, oil on canvas, Kirsi Karppinen, January 19, 2011, via Flickr.

Vision Beyond Survival

It's right to cry out to our Creator for salvation in times of trouble, and for provision at all times. However, if we never progress beyond that, then we might miss the lofty goals our Creator has for us, and the dreams He dreams on our behalf. 
Numbers 13:1-15:41; Joshua 2:1-24, 6:22-25; Proverbs 29:18; 1 Peter 2:1-25; Revelation 5:6-10 
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Vision Beyond Survival
Music: "How Could We,” Solomon O. Lopez, The Born At Home Collections, The Hebraism Project 2014. To hear more of Solomon’s music, visit The Hebraism Project on YouTube.
Picture: Abd El-Krim al-Khattabi, or Molay Muhand Amazigh as he is known to the Berber people of Morocco, led a fierce resistance against Spanish and French colonial forces in the Rif War (1921-26). Illustration by Imdukar, December 31, 2013, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Out of the Mixed Multitude

What is permanent about national, religious, or even ethnic identity? We think of tribes, tongues, and nations as everlasting, but even the oldest has existed only a moment in the context of eternity, and has evolved continuously over the centuries. That's why it is good to consider what identity we will carry into eternity, and how we might begin to live that identity in the present.  
Numbers 8:1-12:16; Zechariah 2:10-4:7; Ephesians 2:1-22; Philippians 3:17-21; Revelation 5:9-10, 7:1-15, 13:5-8, 21:10-13 
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Out of the Mixed Multitude
Music: "Old 100th,” Celtic Worship, Morningtide, Integrity Music 2021. See the official video on Youtube at https://youtu.be/pldbEUCkAnc. Celtic Worship’s music is available at https://celticworship.co.uk/.
Picture: Many leaders of the Scottish nation have been of foreign origin, but their identity is unquestionably Scottish. The latest is First Minister Humza Yousaf, son of Pakistani immigrants. Scottish Government photo, March 29, 2023, via Flickr. 

Ugly Holiness

If we ever think about holy people, what comes to mind may be nice people who get along well with others. But what about people who aren't very nice, such as those Old Testament judges and prophets who saw everything in black and white and took no prisoners when it came to rooting out unrighteousness? Were they holy? And are such people still with us today? 
Numbers 4:21-7:89; Judges 13:2-25; Romans 9:14-23, 11:29, 12:14-21
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Ugly Holiness
Music: "Battle Hymn of the Republic,” The U.S. Army Band, YouTube Audio Library. The full recording is available at https://youtu.be/dAdbKqLwhZg.
Picture: The Tragic Prelude: John Brown. Mural by John Steuart Curry, 1938, Kansas State Capitol, Topeka, KS. 

Citizen Advocates

It's not right to have different classes among citizens of any nation. That's not simply a human sense of fairness, but a statute of our Creator, Who commands that there be one law for the native born and for the foreigner. 
Exodus 19:1-20:26; Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17, 23:4-5; Ruth 1:1-4:22; Ezekiel 1:1-28, 3:12; Habakkuk 2:20-3:19; Matthew 23:13; John 4:25-42; Acts 22:23-29; Galatians 3:27-29; Philippians 3:2-7
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Citizen Advocates
Music: "Jesus Paid It All,” Celtic Worship, Homeward, Oak Ridge Records 2019. See the official video on Youtube at https://youtu.be/YfUNU-sPwbQ. Celtic Worship’s music is available at https://celticworship.co.uk/.
Photo: Petitioners taking the Oath of Citizenship at Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service photo by Neal Herbert, September 9, 2015, via Flickr.