8.11 GIGO

You may have heard this expression before. GIGO means “Garbage In – Garbage Out.” It mainly refers to computers (i.e., don’t blame the computer…if you put in bad programming, you’re going to get a bad result.), but it applies to our mental computers, as well. If you stock your brain full of garbage, be certain [...]

8.6 Pure vs. Impure

These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. (Nehemiah 7:64)

Verses 4-63 of chapter seven list the exiles who returned. The list ends with Nehemiah’s note that those who could not prove their family lineage were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. Some [...]

8.5 Gate-Keeping Rules

I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.” (Nehemiah 7:3)

Nehemiah created guidelines for [...]

8.4 Forbidden Fruit

Samson struggled with lust. You can read his story in Judges, chapters 3-16. His eyes were always getting him into trouble. First, he saw a Philistine woman and had to have her for his wife. He had no business marrying a Philistine, but she looked good to him – maybe because he wasn’t supposed to [...]

8.3 You Crave What You Consume

There’s another problem with packing our brains with sexual stimuli. We are training our appetite.

Our appetites are the result of our diet. If you eat lots of sugary foods, you will crave the sugar. If you drink lots of caffeinated beverages, you will crave the caffeine. But if you train yourself to eat healthy foods, [...]

7.13 The Dogfight

Maybe you’ve heard the story about the man who raised dogs for the cruel sport of dog fighting.  Strangely enough, he would let his dogs fight each other, and he always bet accurately on the one that would win.  His apprentice couldn’t figure out how he did it, so he asked him one day, “How [...]

5.19 Control the Source and You Control the Quality

King Hezekiah (715-687 BC) dug his well before he needed the water. He created a tunnel 1750 feet long to divert the waters of the Gihon Spring so that they flowed into the west side of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:30). He then sealed the cave from where the waters originally sprung. By doing so, he [...]

1:2 Preface: A Different Approach

The book of Nehemiah is a great story that has much to teach us about courage, leadership, faithfulness to God’s call and more.  Without discounting any of these approaches to the book, I would like to approach it from a different perspective.  Consider the book of Nehemiah as a metaphor, as a vivid word picture [...]