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When Deconstruction Builds a Stronger Faith 

Craig Groeschel
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When Deconstruction Builds a Stronger Faith 

What do you do if you discover your house has some issues? Some wood is rotten or there’s a crack in the foundation. The house you were proud of, that made you feel secure, that was an extension of who you are, isn’t quite what you thought it was. 

What do you do now? 

When that house is your faith, you deconstruct. 

As a pastor, I’ve increasingly had my own experiences with this over the past several years as I’ve talked with so many people about their faith-related questions. 

Here are some different definitions for you: 

  • Deconstruction means abandoning all things Christian — becoming an agnostic or atheist. 
  • Deconstruction means staying committed to Jesus but abandoning religious institutions and churches, or at least those that don’t live up to the teachings of Jesus as they see them. 
  • Deconstruction means continuing in a life of devotion to Jesus and participation in the church while rejecting a lot of the related cultural and political issues.  

Here’s an even simpler definition, which seems consistent with how Jesus ministered to people:

Deconstruction is a spiritual journey during which a Christian examines his or her faith to release what’s contrary to God’s heart and embrace what’s true.  

Deconstructing With Jesus

To be clear, deconstruction done poorly can leave a wake of spiritual carnage. I have witnessed it personally. On the other hand, I have also seen that deconstruction done well can be spiritually beneficial. Not only do I think deconstruction can be positive; I’d offer that sometimes it’s necessary.  

You could even make the case that, at times, Jesus was helping people deconstruct their faith. 

For instance, in Matthew 5:43, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’” (NIV). Everyone listening would have thought, Yes, I have heard that. Not only have I heard it, I like it! And I live by it! If they’re nice, be nice back, but if they’re not, slit their chariot wheels when they’re not looking! Jesus continues in Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

Jesus was deconstructing their belief system. He was helping them see that what they believed was not true to God’s heart or his Kingdom’s values. In fact, five times in Matthew 5, Jesus says, “You have heard it said, but I say…” He was essentially saying, let’s tear down your incorrect beliefs so we can build new beliefs that are true. 

How Closely Do Your Beliefs Align With God’s Word?

Something powerful happens when we’re honest about our doubts, spiritual questions, and disappointments. God does something special when we take what’s hidden in the darkest part of our hearts and expose it to his light. 

We would be wise to find the courage to express and examine our beliefs to see if they truly line up with God’s Word. We may assume our beliefs all come from the Bible but that’s probably not as true as we think. Too often we subconsciously absorb our beliefs from other people or from our church or culture, and then assume they’re from the Bible. 

Even when we go straight to Scripture, we can’t help but read it through our own filters, such as: 

  • Our family background and how we were raised. 
  • Our current circumstances, challenges, opportunities, or trials. 
  • Our personality and our biases. 
  • The teachings of the church we grew up in or currently attend. 

So, while many of our beliefs about God are probably true and biblically accurate, because we’re flawed people who learn from flawed people, we’ve also picked up some flawed ideas along the way. 

4 Beliefs That Don’t Come From the Bible

For example, you may wrongly believe: 

“God will never give you anything you can’t handle.”

When you experience something in life you can’t handle, you feel like God hasn’t been true to his promise. But God never promised that!

This often gets confused with what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “[God] will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” He talks about temptation, not life circumstances. 

“If you name it, you can claim it. God will always give you anything you ask for!”

This is based on Bible verses but an incomplete and inaccurate understanding of them. For example, John 15:7 is one often used in this teaching, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.“

Besides the qualifying phrases of “if you remain in me and my words abide in you” the context of John 15 is Jesus’s teaching that we are the branches and God is the vine. Verse 5 is crucial: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Focusing only on “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” is like hearing one sound bite out of an interview.

“As a Christian, you have to belong to this political party, which is God’s political party, and the people who belong to any other are not true Christians.”

The problem is that Jesus did not come to establish a political kingdom. And that all parties have policies and ideologies that are true to God’s heart and others that are antithetical to God’s heart.

In the days of Jesus’ ministry, there were essentially two “political parties” — the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Throughout the gospels, he showed no partiality toward either. Yet, to one curious Pharisee, Jesus did say in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” “Whoever believes” and “the world” is clearly his invitation to anyone in any party. 

“God wants you happy. He loves you and his greatest joy is your happiness.”

This sounds good! And it is true! But only in part. God does love you, which is why his highest purpose is not your happiness, but your holiness. And if your pursuit of happiness trips up your pursuit of holiness, then it’s not God’s will.

After his faith had been reconstructed, Peter wrote, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). 

What Do You Do When You Realize What You Believe Isn’t True?

You may have grown up in a church that twisted the Bible to support racism or the claim that bowling, movies, and pants on women are sinful. Then one day you wake up and realize everything you believe may not actually be biblical. Therefore, it may not actually be true. 

Or, worse, you don’t realize that it’s not biblical, but you do realize that it’s not true. And now, what do you do? Do you have to chuck your faith? Do you walk away from Jesus? 

No. 

You don’t. 

You deconstruct. You let go of what’s not true. 

You reconstruct. You hold on to what is true. 

Too often, instead of throwing out the bad and keeping the good, people throw everything away, even the parts that are true. Finally, what they’re left with is nothing. Or, sadly, they become toxic and bitter. Now they have to figure out how to navigate life without any real foundation or framework. 

At first it might feel freeing. You’re not confined to your old house anymore! My son-in-law James Meehan is one of the primary communicators to the young people in our church, and he helped my thinking for this article. James says it this way: “The empty spot where your ‘house’ used to be will make you feel empty on the inside too.” Why? Because instead of deciding to reconstruct your belief system by finding what is true and beautiful, you took a wrecking ball to it and lost the entire thing. 

But there is good news. 

Really good news. 

Jesus was a carpenter. 

And carpenters know how to build.  

Digging Deeper Into Doubt: Opportunities for Reflection

Rather than doubt being a wrecking ball that smashes everything, it can operate as one of those detectors used for measuring radon, carbon dioxide, or toxic mold. These devices indicate where the problems are so they can then be remediated. The troublesome areas might need to be torn out and rebuilt, but the solid, nontoxic parts of the structure remain intact. 

If you’re struggling to see doubt in a more positive light, just consider Peter, the disciple who may have doubted more than Thomas. One scene in particular in Matthew 14:13–33 illustrates the way Peter’s faith could go from fantastically buoyant to fearfully weighted by doubt. Jesus, after miraculously feeding more than five thousand people, sent the disciples ahead by boat as he dismissed the crowd. He then spent some time in prayer before catching up to them shortly before dawn. Only, Jesus caught up to them by walking on the water. 

Caught by Jesus

The disciples were terrified and cried out that they must be seeing a ghost. But Jesus reassured them, saying, “It is I. Don’t be afraid” (verse 27). Peter evidently wasn’t convinced. In spite of the fact that he had just witnessed the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, he was not prepared to witness the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. So, rather than waiting to see what would happen, Peter blurted out, “Lord, if it’s you… tell me to come to you on the water.” To this, Jesus responded, “Come” (verses 28–29). 

We are not told how long it took for Peter to get out of the boat, but he eventually followed the Lord’s instruction and “walked on the water and came toward Jesus” (verse 29). Peter had faith that if Jesus could walk on water, then he could empower him to do so as well. Yet his faith quickly hit a snag: “When he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (verses 30–31). 

Perhaps the reality of what Peter was doing suddenly registered with him. When he saw the wind whipping up the water’s surface, his doubts distracted him. Peter became afraid, began to sink, and cried for Jesus to save him. Notice the sequence of what happened next: (1) Jesus “reached out his hand and caught him,” and then (2) Jesus said, “You of little faith . . . why did you doubt?”  

We might assume that Jesus was calling Peter out for allowing his doubts to pull him under. But in light of how quickly Jesus reached out to grab his disciple, this isn’t necessarily the case. Instead of tsk-tsking Peter for having doubts, what if Jesus was inviting Peter to consider what had just happened and use it to strengthen his faith? What if Jesus was reminding Peter of what he knew to be true — almost as if saying, “Don’t you remember who I am? Remember those times you’ve seen me do the impossible? Water into wine? Loaves and fishes to feed thousands? Restoring sight to the blind? You know me, Peter, or you wouldn’t have gotten out of the boat. You had faith enough to walk on water. So keep believing!” 

The next time you experience doubt, look for the hand of love to pull you up. 

View your doubt as Jesus’ invitation to experience a deeper faith. 

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  • When has your doubt felt more like a wrecking ball than a problem detector? Why were you tempted to stop with deconstruction rather than assess how to rebuild your faith? 
  • What stands out for you in the scene with Jesus and Peter walking on the water? Why do you think it resonates so strongly with you? 
  • When have you experienced spiritual growth only to sink suddenly when something caused you to doubt? What did you learn from that situation? 
  • How will reconsidering doubt as an invitation to a deeper faith change the way you deconstruct your beliefs? What areas of your faith still need to be addressed based on the doubts that you have?
Cover of "Benefit of Doubt" by Craig Groeschel

Adapted from The Benefit of Doubt and The Benefit of Doubt Workbook by Craig Groeschel.

God can handle your difficult questions and use them to deepen your relationship with him.

At some point, almost all of us have had questions about Christianity and doubts about God. We’re afraid we might never find answers, yet we aren’t sure if we are ready to abandon our faith altogether.

Bestselling author and pastor Craig Groeschel has walked through the valley of doubt himself, and in The Benefit of Doubt, he shows us how asking questions, seeking answers, and wrestling with doubt can actually draw us closer to God.

Preaching in Pain: Four Lessons from Paul

Rick Reed
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Preaching in Pain: Four Lessons from Paul

Athletes know all about playing hurt. For preachers, it’s preaching hurt — preaching in pain. Preach for any length of time and you’ll face the challenge of preaching in pain. It’s one of the unavoidable tests of a preacher’s heart. 

Sunday comes each week whether we are ready or not; whether we are reeling or not. Sometimes the pain we carry may be physical — an illness that impacts the body. More often it will be emotional — affliction that affects the soul. The pain may result from a Sunday morning blow-up at home with a spouse or teenager. Or from seeing a disgruntled church leader, sitting with a scowl and crossed arms as we stand to preach. The pain may come from recent sins that, in spite of being confessed to God, still leave us feeling like pastoral imposters and spiritual poseurs. Pain can come from the cumulative weight we carry as we shepherd people through severe trials. 

In spite of the aching in our souls, when the final song of the worship set finishes, we are expected to stand and deliver. We make our way to the front with an unseen limp, feeling numb, flatlined, or defeated before we even begin. We silently cry out to God for help. We pray that God would make his strength perfect in our weakness. Then we try to preach in pain.  

Lessons from Paul on Preaching in Pain

As I reflect on my years of preaching, I still carry some scorched memories of several Sundays when I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it through the message. As the opening songs launched the service, I was physically present but emotionally absent. I was vaguely aware of voices around me singing praise to God as I silently voiced my own pain to God. Though preaching has been one of the great joys of my life, on those Sundays, preaching was the last thing I felt like doing. Empty and aching, I called out to God for mercy and help.  

The apostle Paul was no stranger to preaching in pain. When he wrote to the church in Corinth, he reminded them of that reality: “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3, ESV). He expressed a similar thought in his letter to the Thessalonians: “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict” (1 Thessalonians 2:2). In both Corinth and Thessalonica — in spite of the pain he was living with — Paul opened his heart and mouth to proclaim God’s message. Clearly, Paul knew how to preach hurt. 

As I hear Paul’s candid testimony, I long to be able to ask him some questions. How did you do it? What kept you from giving up or calling it quits? Did you ever feel disingenuous talking to others about God’s goodness and grace when life and ministry were excruciatingly difficult? How did you quiet the inner turmoil in your own soul enough to concentrate on ministering to the souls of others?  

While we can’t converse with Paul, we can discern his answers to these questions by taking a closer look at his words in both 1 Corinthians 2 and 1 Thessalonians 2. In these two chapters, we learn at least four important lessons about preaching in pain. 

1. Preaching in Pain is Part of Faithful Gospel Ministry 

Paul didn’t see personal pain as a reason to cease and desist from proclaiming God’s truth. Carrying the scars of a recent beating in Philippi (Acts 16:22) and facing stiff opposition in Thessalonica, he still had the boldness to proclaim the gospel in the local synagogue (Acts 17:2).  

From Paul’s example we learn that a faithful preaching ministry will, at times, call for a determined, daring spirit that speaks in spite of personal pain. At those moments, our preaching becomes an act of defiance against the darkness. Though sorrow may hang overcast in our hearts, we continue to proclaim the truth that the sun is shining above the clouds. In these moments, we join Paul in become daring preachers who don’t play it safe or run for cover when ministry gets painful. 

So on those Sundays when pain obscures the joy of preaching God’s Word, we endure hardship and soldier on (2 Timothy 2:3–4). We report for duty even when we aren’t as healthy or happy as we’d like to be. We preach God’s Word, in season and out of season, on good days and hard days.  

2. Preaching in Pain Involves Speaking in Spite of Turbulent Emotions  

As Paul arrived in Corinth, he came “in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). But in spite of turbulent emotions that left him feeling rattled, he still proclaimed “the testimony of God” (2:1). While he was aware of his feelings, he wasn’t silenced by them.  

Paul’s candid comments provide a helpful reminder that we can preach even when our inner world is not placid and peaceful. The internal turbulence caused by weakness, fear, and trembling do not disqualify us as preachers. Faithfulness in preaching sometimes involves preaching when we are badly shaken. While we may not be able to publicly explain our pain, we can publicly proclaim God’s truth. 

Mature preachers don’t ignore or deny their emotions. Instead, they pour out their hearts to God in private (Psalm 62:8) and proclaim his Word in public (1 Corinthians 2:1). While they may openly acknowledge something of their weakness and need for God’s enabling grace, they don’t focus attention on themselves; rather, they point people to Christ. They follow Paul’s lead and resolve “to know nothing … except Jesus Christ” (2:2). 

3. Preaching in Pain Is Not an Excuse for Sinful Attitudes or Actions 

As I read Paul’s reflection on his preaching ministry, I’m struck by how he maintained his spiritual integrity even when mistreated in ministry. He didn’t allow painful experiences to become an excuse for sinful attitudes or actions.  

He examined his motives and his message to make sure his preaching was not fueled by “error or impurity or any attempt to deceive” (1 Thessalonians 2:3). Paul understood the difference between preaching in distress and preaching in disguise. Though he was still banged up from the abuse he’d received in Philippi and surely would have welcomed some encouraging words, he still didn’t look for praise from his hearers (2:4). Instead, he proclaimed God’s truth with integrity, seeking to please the One who “tests our hearts.” 

Here is an important reminder for all of us who preach, especially when life and ministry are painful. The mistreatment we experience must not be allowed to muddy our motives or pollute our message. We can’t allow bitterness over past hurts to color our present sermons. We must not let pain prompt us to change God’s message for our own gain (2:5) or glory (2:6). We must stay mindful of the truth that God is the One who examines our work. We will make it our first priority to live and preach for his approval. While life may not be going well, we will seek to make sure it is well with our souls. 

4. Preaching in Pain Makes Us Lean Harder on the Power of God 

Paul’s example, though inspiring on one level, can be deflating on another. Spiritually sensitive preachers who know their own sinful hearts can read Paul’s testimony and respond by piling more pain on their own souls. We can beat ourselves up for responding poorly when we were beaten up in ministry. We can readily recall times we allowed ministry wounds to fester in our hearts and infect our sermons. We are painfully aware that responding well to painful circumstances doesn’t come easily or automatically. 

The same was true for Paul. While we may think Paul handled mistreatment effortlessly, a close reading of his words dispels that illusion. Paul points the Thessalonians to the source of his strength in times of great weakness: “we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict” (2:2). The strength to be bold when he was banged up came from God, not from within himself. 

Paul told the Corinthian Christians the same thing. When preaching in “weakness and in fear and much trembling,” he relied on the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:3–5).  

Preaching in pain has a purpose — both in the life of the preacher and the hearers. Pain has a way of driving us as preachers to a greater dependence on God’s Spirit. We become more realistic about ourselves and more reliant on God’s power. Pain also has a beneficial effect on our hearers. They see a living demonstration of the truth that faith must rest on God rather than his messengers (2:5).  

So on Sundays when we don’t feel like preaching because we’re in pain — when we feel empty and broken — we can actually do some of our best work as preachers. That’s because we will be more conscious of our need of God’s grace and more dependent on his Spirit’s power. And when God chooses to work through our weakness, we will be less apt to embezzle his glory. Like Paul, we come to understand in a very personal way that “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

Adapted from Rick Reed’s book, The Heart of the Preacher: Preparing Your Soul to Proclaim God’s Word  (Lexham Press). The Heart of the Preacher addresses fifteen heart-tests preachers and teachers will face (such as insecurity, ambition, fear, stagnating, criticism, pain). It also presents ten practices preachers and teachers can utilize to strengthen their hearts for these tests. 

Look at the Book: Matthew [Infographic]

Chris Fann
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Look at the Book: Matthew [Infographic]

“Look at the Book” is Bible Gateway’s series of short blog posts and infographics introducing you to the books of the Bible. With the Gospel of Matthew — a book that relies heavily on Old Testament prophecies for the Messiah — we now move into the New Testament.

Scroll to the bottom if you’d prefer to see (and save) this article as an infographic. You’ll also find a handy 30-day reading guide. Or, for a challenge, you can do it in one week using the 7-day reading guide below.

Summary

Matthew was a Jew who wrote to other Jewish believers in order to proclaim Jesus as the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews. He shows how Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament but also to judge the Jews for their unfaithfulness.

  • Category: Gospels
  • Theme: Kingdom
  • Timeline: Approx. 60 AD, possibly in Antioch

Key Verse

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” — Matthew 5:17 (NIV)

Drawing Connections

Matthew is distinctive in citing a number of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled during his ministry.

Matthew quotes the Old Testament 36 times, mostly from the prophets Isaiah, Zechariah, and Micah, the Psalms, and the Book of Deuteronomy.

7 Day Reading Guide

(See 30-day guide below.)

Sermon on the Mount

Although many stories and events recorded in Matthew are found only in this gospel, perhaps the most noteworthy is Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.

Access the rest of the series. Browse Bible studies for each book of the Bible. Or right-click on the infographic below to download and save the image for your reference. 

Infographic depicting major themes and content from Matthew

You Belong to God — Not to Caesar

Mark Clark
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You Belong to God — Not to Caesar

Human beings are unique among the creatures of the world. We are “wise” and became this way when God breathed his Spirit into us. “The Man came alive — a living soul!” (Gen. 2:7 MSG), the Bible says.

But alive and wise to what?

Sociologists tell us we became so in several ways. We became self-conscious, self-aware, romantic and not just instinctual. We became conscious of the universe and began wondering what our place within it is. We organized ourselves socially, creatively, behaviorally and began pondering deeper, more profound existential questions than any of the animals could ever hope to ask.  

We also came alive religiously, drawing on walls or sketching the stars out of a desire to connect to the gods, always reaching out for something, or someone, beyond us. We became awake to the idea that there was a person, or persons, behind or above or beyond this world.

The Law of Religion

This phenomenon is so common around the world that Yuval Harari, in his book Sapiens, calls it “The Law of Religion.” He says this has been the third great unifier of humankind — alongside money and empires — throughout history. Every people group on every continent in every era has been religious: the Egyptians, the Polynesians, the Mayans, the Greeks; from Mesopotamia to Persia, from China to South America, you will find similarities. There are temples, drawings, stories, sacred writings, sacrifices, priestly systems, prayers, and songs. Every culture in history has had these, long before they ever interacted with one another. One of the distinct things about human beings as a species is that we worship.  

We know at some level that we are more than just meat and synapses. Deep inside we know we are more than what we see, taste, or touch. We have something else written into us, telling us there is meaning and emotion and love and beauty, what C. S. Lewis called our “lifelong nostalgia”: “our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside. And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honor beyond all our merits and the healing of that old ache.”

Sometime after God made us in his image, we began doing something that nothing else in the world does. We began longing. We sensed something missing and felt a desire to connect to the One who made us and the kind of world he created for us — a world with no more crying, or pain, or death. No more terrorism, or depression, or heart attacks that steal those we love. No more single moms trying their best, or dads so lost they take their own lives, like a man from our church recently did. No more earthquakes, or child abuse, or divorce, or poverty. No more racism, or hatred, or disease, or pandemics. Then and only then, when we find this world, or the One who can take us there, does the heart settle.  

The Secular Epidemic and the Search for Home

This is why while there are several secular theories about how to find happiness and fulfillment and meaning as human beings, none of them adequately answer the problem of our longings. A century after testing out the secular answers to those longings, and adding to our lives the technology to connect us, the medicine that can heal us, and the psychology that can explain us, the Western world is worse off. We are more depressed, more suicidal, more anxious, and more lost than ever:  

  • 60% of college students meet the criteria for a mental health condition.
  • 84% of Gen Z report burnout.
  • Suicide rates are at an all-time high — more than tripling among fifteen-to-twenty-four-year-olds in the past two decades (the United States alone has an average of 49,000 per year, which is twice the number of homicides, making suicide one of the top ten causes of death for nearly every age group).
  • Up to 90% of doctor’s office visits are for stress-related symptoms.
  • The pandemic tripled the rate of depression in adults in all demographic groups.
  • Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenge, affecting forty million adults in the United States alone (10% of the population).

All of this is what secular culture is producing in us. Because the problem with trying to live without God is that we ignore the way we were made, and we do so to our own demise.

The search for “home,” as Saint Augustine called it, the state of being at peace with God, is what our whole life is about, and nothing causes us more pain than our disconnection from and denial of that journey. It is the worst kind of homesickness.

“In my experience,” the Christian thinker and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from a Nazi prison camp before he was killed, “nothing tortures us like longing. . . . When we are forcibly separated from those we love, we simply cannot, like so many other things, contrive for ourselves some cheap substitute…. There have been a few occasions in my life when I have had to learn what homesickness means. There is no agony worse than this.”

So it is true, what the theologian Donald Bloesch contends in his journals, that “our greatest affliction is not anxiety, or even guilt, but rather homesickness — a nostalgia, a yearning to be at home with God.”

This is what “the fall” story is in the biblical narrative — how we ended up separated from the One we love most, the One who loves us most, and all the dysfunction that came from it. The fall explains why we are homesick and why the longing to return home is such a powerful image of redemption. Jesus himself uses this longing for home in his famous parable about the prodigal son, who returns home to his village and his father after a life of immorality and selfishness that would have been punishable by death in that culture.

Instead, he is met with grace.

“The image of coming home is a powerful, archetypal symbol of returning to one’s deepest self, to the soul,” writes acclaimed novelist Sue Monk Kidd. “To come home is to return to the place of inner origin, that original imprint within.” To spend our lives not settling but journeying, moving, searching, and never resting until we find our rest in God is what life is.

You Are God’s

Despite the lies our culture throws at us about who we are and who we aren’t, the biblical story says we belong to God. Jesus affirms this when he holds up the coin with Caesar’s image on it and says to the crowd, “Whose image is this?” The crowd says Caesar’s, and Jesus replies, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:16–17, emphasis added).

It begs the question, though nobody in the crowd asks it: What is God’s? The answer is obvious. Every person in the crowd is God’s, for they bear the image of God. When you look in the mirror, you should hear that question of Jesus: “Whose image do you see?” Because whatever bears the image of God is God’s. You, me, your neighbor, your ex, your boss, those people you have come to hate, the others you love so dearly — we all bear God’s image.

Our human duty, according to Jesus, then, is to give ourselves to God. We bear his image, and we belong to him, so we are to give ourselves to him. No matter how gentle or soft or cultured or smart or nice or righteous a person may be, no one experiences their full potential as a human being unless they do this. This is the human design, the reason we were created.

Never shy away from the longings of your heart and soul. Secularism has taught us to, calling them illusions, cognitive misfirings, or hopeful thinking of the weak. Rather, realize they are there as guides to lead you to finding the One your heart beats for, and then in finding him, live a life worthy of him.  

Cover of "Problem of Life" by Mark Clark

Adapted from The Problem of Life: How to Find Identity, Purpose, and Joy in a Disenchanted World by Mark Clark.

In this final book of a trilogy which began with The Problem of God, Clark presents 11 practical principles to help us flourish. He explores foundational topics like our origins, identity, and the meaning of suffering while drawing from biblical theology, psychology, and engaging real-life stories.

The Problem of Life illustrates how we may be looking in all the wrong places for joy, contentment, and satisfaction — and points us toward God as the remedy for our brokenness. 

How to Cope With Disappointment as a Christian

Drew Hyun
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How to Cope With Disappointment as a Christian

I wish I could say otherwise as a Christian, but if you’ve been faithful to Jesus for a while, you’ve probably discovered that following Jesus isn’t exactly a walk in the park. In fact, Jesus actually tells his followers that they will have trouble in this world (John 16:33), and the apostle Paul actually flatly states that if you want to follow Jesus, you will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). These words are not exactly ringing endorsements to become a Christian!  

And yet, many Christians still have a hard time dealing with disappointments. Yes, we know that the Scriptures are full of stories of people in deep pain and anguish, but somehow, we still believe that God is only with us when our pockets are overflowing, our stomachs are full, and all seems right and good in the world.  

But ignoring disappointments actually misses a significant part of what Christians believe and inevitably go through. In fact, we often minimize a significant teaching in the Scripture when we don’t expect disappointment. 

The truth is that everyone — Christian or not — experiences both beauty and disappointment in life. You know, good days and bad days, sunshine and rain, bliss and bumps befall us all.

If anything, though, Christians should be the most equipped people to face disappointment.

Why? Because Christian belief explains why disappointment exists while also giving us the resources to cope with it: grief.

Two Kinds of Pain — and How We Are to Grieve Them

A mentor of mine often talks about two kinds of pain: dirty pain and clean pain.

‘Dirty’ Pain

Dirty pain is the ache you feel after you haven’t really made the best choices in your life and are now dealing with the consequences. You know, eating milkshakes and burritos at 11:00 pm and hoping to have a good night’s rest as a middle-aged man — that kind of pain (I might be speaking from experience). Dirty pain can be immediate, or it can be a slow burn — either way, we all experience it because the Scriptures teach a couple of truths related to it: 1) we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and 2) we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7).  

Dirty pain affects the entire world, including nature (e.g., pollution that harms the environment), culture (e.g., using technology for cruel ends like cyberbullying), and human relationships (e.g., when I say intentionally hurtful words to my wife when I’m upset). Much of our disappointment in life comes from dirty pain.

How to Grieve Dirty Pain

The way we “grieve” our dirty pain in the Scriptures is through confession and repentance. Confession and repentance require an admission of my guilt in the matter, which is no small feat. I grieve how I’ve contributed to the dirty pain, recognizing that I’m a sinner in need of forgiveness (Romans 3:23, Psalm 51:1-2, Matthew 6:9-15, Acts 2:38-39). Repentance entails turning in an opposite direction — owning my mistake but now aiming for a new trajectory toward God and a godly lifestyle.   

Of course, confession and repentance are only possible if I humble myself (1 Peter 5:6, Colossians 3:12), getting off my own ego trip and recognizing my fallibility and culpability. Instead of blaming others for disappointments in life, I need to first own my own mistakes, admit my wrong to another (James 5:16), ask for forgiveness where appropriate, and attempt to chart a new path. The good news of confession and repentance is that God says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9) — a rather amazing offer considering how often we sin!  

‘Clean’ Pain

And then there’s clean pain. Clean pain is the harm that comes to us when we have no reason why — we don’t deserve it, we don’t understand it, and it’s a mystery why we’re going through this hardship that we didn’t see coming. Clean pain is awfully disappointing because there seems to be no logic or explanation to it.  

We simply turn to the fallenness of our world, the way our “flesh” (1 John 2:16), the “world” (Romans 12:2), and Satan (John 8:44) are realities that contribute to the brokenness of life. And we wonder why God would allow it all.  

The book of Job is a story of visceral grief in the midst of hardship that God permits. In the end, there are no real answers, just the reality that God is God, we are not, and grief via clean pain has a way of humbling us and forming us like nothing else.  

How to Grieve Clean Pain 

If anything, that’s what clean pain does — it humbles us and invites us to vulnerable lament. Laments are replete throughout the Psalms (some scholars estimate 2/3s of the Psalms) — honest and bare sharing of people bringing their complaints to God.  

Disappointment from clean pain is to elicit grief, a grieving that forms us into more humble, dependent, and resilient followers of God (James 1:2). Somehow, God uses our weakness and pain to mold us and shape us into the kinds of vessels that can continue to depend on Him (2 Corinthians 12:9) while being a people who can receive and give comfort to those who are suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).   

Indeed, grief does not solve our disappointment — but it helps absorb it to mold us into Christ-like people who share in Christ’s suffering.  

And Yet, There’s Still Hope

And yet, there’s still hope. Yes, grieving is the Biblical antidote to disappointment — but thankfully, the Christian story does not end in a never-ending cosmic war between beauty and disappointment where we’re wondering who will be left standing after an exhausting contest between good and evil.  

The Christian story ends with hope victorious — a living hope found in a resurrected Jesus (1 Peter 1:3)! We cling to this hope with all that we have.  

Yes, we celebrate what is beautiful in life. And yes, we grieve what is disappointing. But we embrace both beauty and disappointment with an overarching hope in Jesus.    

Jesus, the one who is the author of all that is good and beautiful (Colossians 1), and the one who takes our sin and shame on the cross (2 Peter 2:24). Jesus, the one who will one day “wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4), promising that justice and love will win in eternity.  

Cover of "Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful" by Drew Hyun

Jesus allows us to embrace disappointment without ever losing hope. Because even in death, which is the ultimate disappointment, we have a Savior who offers us a hope that the world cannot give, nor take away.  

And so in the meantime, in this beautiful and disappointing life, we live with gratitude and grief, embracing it with hope and grace found in Jesus.  

In his book Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful, Drew Hyun explains how the Christian faith provides a lens through which we can understand the beautiful and disappointing world we live in, while offering the kind of promising hope we long for.

Look at the Book: Malachi [Infographic]

Chris Fann
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Look at the Book: Malachi [Infographic]

“Look at the Book” is Bible Gateway’s series of short blog posts and infographics introducing you to the books of the Bible. The last book in the Old Testament, Malachi provides a final call to repentance ahead of the long wait for the Messiah and his messenger. 

Scroll to the bottom if you’d prefer to see (and save) this article as an infographic. You’ll also find a handy 30-day reading guide. Or, for a challenge, you can do it in one week using the 7-day reading guide below. 

Summary 

Malachi’s aim is to rebuke the people for doubting God’s love and to call them to return to honoring the Lord. He states God is coming not only to judge his people but also to bless and restore them. 

  • Category: Prophets 
  • Theme: Responsibilities 
  • Timeline: Written around 430 BC 
  • Written: Attributed to Malachi 

Key Verse 

“…see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” — Malachi 3:10 (NIV) 

Pointing the Way 

After being back in the land for 100 years, the Jews’ religious routine led to hard- heartedness toward God’s great love and widespread departure from His law. Malachi rebuked and condemned these abuses, calling them to repentance. 

At the end of Malachi’s prophecy, he points forward to a coming messenger who would both speak the word of God and minister “in the spirit and power of Elijah” and point the way to the Messiah. 

7 Day Reading Guide 

Here is a seven-day reading guide to Zechariah and Malachi. 

(See 30-day guide with all Minor Prophets below.) 

The Final Prophecy 

The final prophecy of the Old Testament challenges Israel to remember the glorious nature of God’s love. 

Access the rest of the series. Browse Bible studies for each book of the Bible. Or right-click on the infographic below to download and save the image for your reference.   

Infographic depicting major themes and content from Malachi

How Christians Can Engage More Faithfully With the News

Steph Juliot
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How Christians Can Engage More Faithfully With the News

“I feel like it was changing me.”

I’m meeting Mark for the first time at a church event and find myself in a conversation about Christians and the news. He’s telling me about his love-hate relationship with the headlines — how he began listening to different sources during his 30-minute commute, how it started as a simple desire to be informed, and how it devolved into a habit that made him an angrier version of himself. How it changed him. And how he’s since gone cold turkey.

Why do politicians, wars, and the general off-kilter-ness of the world always come up when I first meet someone, you ask? Fair question. I’m a writer for The Pour Over, a news resource that’s helping people build a spiritually healthy relationship with the news.

I meet a lot of people like Mark (and used to be a news addict myself), and our inbox is full of stories of (mostly Christian) people whose news consumption has gone to one of two extremes: “I feel guilty because I have no idea what’s going on in the world,” or, “I have an obsessive relationship with the news, and it leaves me angry and anxious.”

Does it have to be this way?

You probably know my answer. But let me explain.

The Case for News Consumption

If the news is usually divisive, doomy and gloomy, or drivel (or some combination), why bother with it at all? I can think of at least three reasons:

  1. Your neighbors care. Like a parent might suddenly gain an interest in FootGolf to connect with a teenager they love, learning about the things your neighbors care about will help you connect with them (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). 
  2. You may need to respond. If there’s a hurricane coming your way, you want to prepare. If you’re about to vote, you need to know the issues on the ballot. If there’s an opportunity to meet an urgent need in your community, you want to hear about it. Believers are called to care for our temporary home, seeking the common good while we wait for our permanent home (Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Peter 2:11-12). We can’t effectively seek this home’s good if we don’t know what’s going on. 
  3. You have an opportunity to shape the conversation. Without Christians representing Christ in how we engage with the news and relate with our neighbors, we cede that arena to the world as if the gospel has nothing to do with it. No. Knowing Jesus transforms everything, including how we engage with the headlines. We can bless the world and highlight the excellence of Christ by walking in a better way.

A Better Way to Stay Informed

There’s a better way — a spiritually healthy, fruit-of-the-Spirit-bearing, God-honoring way for Christians to be informed. Here are the hallmarks of that way: 

Brevity

Less news is better (unless you’re getting zero). 

If you’re spending an hour every day consuming the news and only 10 minutes pursuing Christ, that’s off balance. If you’re listening to hours of CNN or Fox News or scrolling to find out what an influencer thinks and then maybe fitting in a 5-minute Bible reading, whose disciple are you? 

We justify this attention imbalance by wanting to find the definitive Christian stance on everything. But God does not call us to that. He calls us to know him, not to know every issue. To seek him and recognize his voice, not to have all the answers. Jesus, our Shepherd, says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NIV). 

The Savior’s voice must be the loudest and most influential in your life, with the concerns of his kingdom — not this world’s — ranking highest (Colossians 3:1-2; Philippians 3:20-21). 

Keep in mind the purpose of your news consumption, and then take the minimum amount of time needed to accomplish that goal. You can learn what’s on your neighbors’ minds, take necessary action, and point people to Christ with about 5-10 minutes of news every day. Sure, maybe there’s an issue that particularly tugs at your heart, and you take a deeper dive. But that’s the exception, not the rule. 

Learn what you need to know from the media voices competing for your attention, then quiet them so you can listen to your Shepherd. 

Levity

Believers can approach the day’s headlines with light-heartedness and peace because we have an unshakable hope. 

Those who live without hope are grave and pessimistic about the news of the day, fearing a dark and uncertain future. The stakes are high because their only hope is a happy and comfortable life on earth. But believers in Jesus can approach even the darkest headlines with peace because we know how this story ends (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

In our news consumption, believers must make an effort to keep the big things big and the small things small. The headlines that shake the world today will probably be forgotten next month. And when we’re with Christ 5,000 years from now, how much less will they matter? But the “small” things that don’t make the headlines — the mundane acts of loving God and our neighbors — will be the ones that matter into eternity.

Believers can find humor and joy even in the headlines, remembering that the things that seem so weighty today are just a passing mist (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26; James 4:13-15). Joy and peace are fruits of the Spirit; seriousness and fear are not. 

Dignity

Every name in the headlines is an image-bearer of God.

The two-part command that sums up the mandate of believers is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39 NIV). The radical part of this command is that your “neighbor” includes your enemies — whether ethnic, religious, political, or otherwise (Matthew 5:44; Luke 10:25-37). 

This leaves no room for disrespecting or disparaging people in the news. By all means, use your discernment to judge between wisdom and foolishness, good and evil. But even as you pursue righteousness in your positions, believers do not have leeway to neglect love in our posture. 

That politician pursuing policies you disagree with is a person made in God’s image whom God loves. Your neighbor displaying a different candidate’s yard sign is an individual motivated by their own fears and convictions, a broken person (like you and me) in need of mercy. Even that terrorist across the world — gulp — is not excluded from God’s love or ours.

Don’t immerse yourself in news that indulges in name-calling and shaming. Seek sources that steelman differing perspectives, seeking understanding with compassion.

Good News

A spiritually healthy relationship with the news starts with limited consumption, eternal perspective, and respect for others. 

The Pour Over has been presenting the news with brevity, levity, and dignity for six years, striving to keep our subscribers informed and focused on Christ. This other way of doing news is resonating with frustrated believers who just want to learn the facts, remember the Lord, and move on with their mission. 

The disciple’s goal is becoming more like Jesus and making him known. As Paul urges us, we seek to “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind” rather than being “conformed to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2 ESV). So we don’t settle for consuming the news in worldly patterns: emotional manipulation, anxiety about things we can’t control, short-term focus, hatred toward those who threaten our comfort, and so on.

I hope you’ll join the 1 million+ people now reading along with The Pour Over so we can meet again in your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But even more, I hope you’ll refuse to settle for worldly patterns of news consumption and run to Christ for the renewing of your mind.

What Would You Do If You Knew Jesus Was Coming Back in Ten Years?

Jennie Allen
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What Would You Do If You Knew Jesus Was Coming Back in Ten Years?

A few years ago, I found myself in a place of exhaustion. I love what I do, but I found myself wondering what it would look like to just quit. I imagined a life of indefinite sabbatical, hanging out with my husband and family, relaxed and unburdened by the heavy weight of this call on my life. I asked God, “Is this the time? Do we close everything down?” Looking back, I was just so weary.

As I asked God what to do, a friend of mine prayed specifically for God to give me clarity. The very night of that prayer, I had a dream — a dream that Jesus was coming back in ten years. While I have no idea if Jesus will actually come back in ten years or tomorrow or generations from now, what I do know is that this dream changed me and I haven’t been the same since. I haven’t thought about quitting one time since, because I have resolved that in the small chance He is coming back soon, I am going to do my part.

What about you? Imagine if you knew with absolute certainty (reminder, we don’t) that Jesus is coming back in ten years. What would change about your life? What would change about what you’re thinking about and what you’re doing with your time? 

Here’s what I know down deep in my core: if we as a Church knew this, it would change everything. We would become ablaze with single-mindedness, and we would fix our solely eyes on Jesus. More specifically, I believe that if we as a global Church knew that Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would know our mission, we would come together, and we would hate our sin.

We would know our mission.

Matthew 28:18-20 tells us Jesus’s last words to his disciples and is known by most of us as the Great Commission. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (ESV). Jesus couldn’t have been clearer: the mission of the Church is discipleship.  

What is discipleship? It’s leading someone who doesn’t know God to the ways of Jesus. If we’re also discipling people who already know Jesus, then we should be discipling them to disciple people who don’t know Jesus to know Jesus! (Is that a tongue twister or what?!)

If we knew Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would be obsessed with helping the lost know Jesus. This mission to “go and make disciples” would feel crystal clear and incredibly urgent.

But many of us have found our mission out of a place of drive rather than calling. How can you know if you’re living driven or living called?

Driven people…

  • Need affirmation before they feel good about something.
  • Spend more time online than with Jesus.
  • Compare their results to others’.
  • Constantly look to arrive at an achievement.
  • Live frustrated at their lack of opportunities.
  • Get anxious when they aren’t performing.
  • Check numbers all the time.
  • Think of how others can elevate them.
  • Share their weakness publicly before they confess it privately.

But called people…

  • Have nothing to lose and nothing to prove.
  • Celebrate others’ successes easily.
  • Enjoy the work that God has for them no matter the results.
  • Are comfortable confessing weakness and sin.
  • Seek out and recognize others.
  • Enjoy Jesus.
  • Prioritize real life relationships over online significance.
  • Think about how they can elevate others.

“Driven vs. called” is one of the main ways that the enemy has hijacked the Church’s mission because we have been distracted by looking for significance rather than focused on kingdom impact. We have loved other things more than God and made things more complicated than Jesus intended. I believe that if the Church knew Jesus was coming back in ten years, we would live as called people on a mission to make disciples. 

There are 2.5 billion Christians on Earth, and 5.5 billion people on earth who don’t know Jesus yet. How could the world be changed if each and every Jesus follower discovered, resolved and were commissioned into the cause of making Jesus known? This is what we will be doing at Gather25 — mobilizing the Church to participate in the mission of God and to “go and make disciples.”

We would come together.

When we’re all looking for significance, we tend to separate from each other. We live isolated and become lonely as we focus on our own drive. But when we lean into living called, we come together for the only thing that will last: the kingdom of God. Like the Avengers coming together (do you love the Marvel movies as much as I do?), when we work together as a team, unbelievable things are possible that we simply cannot do alone.

This idea of coming together is intrinsically tied to our vision for Gather25. Our dream is to gather the global Church — every man, woman, and child who follows Jesus. Leaders across many different streams of Christian faith share our vision to work together for the gospel. 

Acts 2:42-47 (ESV) describes the early Church this way: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

If we are living like Jesus is coming back in ten years, we as the Church will come together in a similar way; we will fellowship together, we will be devoted to the teaching of the Word, we will praise God together, and we will sacrificially love our neighbors. 

A picture God gave me of this coming together is of a big boat with lots of small boats behind it. Believers all around the world, across different continents, languages, and denominations, have been rowing in their small boats. But the time has come for us to get on the big boat together. We need each other, and it’s time that we all set aside petty arguments and division and instead get caught up in the big story of God! 

We have called Gather25 “the greatest group project ever,” and that is how we see it! Through technology that has only recently existed, we can gather the global Church to participate in the same livestream and instantly translate our content to 14 languages. We are bringing Christians around the world together so that we can send them back out to their local communities with a shared vision for the mission of making disciples.

We would hate our sin.

Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

If we as a Church knew that Jesus was coming back in ten years, I believe that we would hate our sin. We would be renewed in the fight to, as Hebrews says, “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” as we look to Jesus. We would fix our eyes on Jesus instead of the trivial pursuits that do nothing but distract us from our mission.

What would this look like? A few ideas…

  • We would not be consumed with materialism.
  • We would not numb out with entertainment.
  • We would not be in sexual sin.
  • We would not yell at our kids.
  • We would not lie or hide.
  • We would not gossip or be critical of others.
  • We would not be addicted to our phones, to food, or to the approval of others. 
  • We would lay down self-loathing and insecurity. 
  • We would lay down greed and discontentment.

Holiness is the way we will show people our God. It’s the way Israel showed people their God, and it’s the way Jesus called us to show people. The world doesn’t hate Christians because we are like Jesus; they hate us because we aren’t. The more we become like Jesus, with holiness, truth, grace and love coming together in our lives, the more we spread Jesus to our churches, communities, and the world. 

Have you been afraid to name the sin that’s entangled you? Sin flees when it’s brought into the light. If we truly want to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1 NIV), we have to name that sin. We have to confess to one another.

When Jesus comes back — whenever that might be — let’s be the most single-minded, full-hearted, confessed people on earth. There is no condemnation (Romans 8:1)! Live your life in the light and help others live in the light. Be brave, and share the thing you’re scared to share with someone you trust. 

Be ready.

At Gather25, believers will come together not only to worship and be inspired, but also to pray and repent.

Jesus is coming back. We don’t know for certain if it’s in ten years, but we don’t know for certain that it’s not. 

He has called us, his beloved Church, to know our mission, come together, and hate our sin, all for the sake of making disciples of all nations. This is why Gather25 exists. Will you join us?

Get the exclusive Gather edition of the NIV Jesus Everywhere Bible at 30% off for a limited time at FaithGateway.

Look at the Book: Zechariah [Infographic]

Chris Fann
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Look at the Book: Zechariah [Infographic]

“Look at the Book” is Bible Gateway’s series of short blog posts and infographics introducing you to the books of the Bible. Like Haggai, Zechariah advocates for rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem — but where Haggai was “bad cop,” rebuking the people’s sin and unfaithfulness, Zechariah plays “good cop,” encouraging hope in the coming of the Messiah. 

Scroll to the bottom if you’d prefer to see (and save) this article as an infographic. You’ll also find a handy 30-day reading guide. Or, for a challenge, you can do it in one week using the 7-day reading guide below. 

Summary 

Like Haggai, Zechariah’s main purpose for writing was to compel the exiles to complete the rebuilding of the temple. He also foretells Christ’s coming and emphasizes that God will be faithful to his people if they choose to return to him. 

  • Category: Prophets 
  • Theme: Forgiveness 
  • Timeline: Written between 480-470 BC 
  • Written: Attributed to Zechariah 

Key Verse 

“See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” — Zechariah 9:9 (NIV) 

The Messiah Is Coming 

Zechariah employed a number of images to refer to the coming Messiah: 

Haggai’s purpose was to rebuild the temple; his preaching has a tone of rebuke for the people’s indifference, sin, and lack of trust in God. Zechariah sought to encourage the people to build the temple in view of the promise that someday Messiah would come to inhabit it. 

7 Day Reading Guide 

Here is a seven-day reading guide to Zechariah and Malachi. 

(See 30-day guide with all Minor Prophets below.) 

Building a Future 

The people were not just building for the present, but with the future hope of Messiah in mind. He encouraged the people that the Lord remembers His covenant promises and would restore and bless them. 

Access the rest of the series. Browse Bible studies for each book of the Bible. Or right-click on the infographic below to download and save the image for your reference.   

Infographic depicting major themes and content from Zechariah
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