Tammy Kennington

Open the pages of either the Old or New Testament and we discover God’s sovereignty expressed through the lives of unlikely people: prophets, priests, and prostitutes. Foreigners, Pharisees, and failures. Like us, the men and women of scripture lived messy, broken lives—yet many exemplify traits worth emulating.

Those whose lives we study are, despite their shortcomings, people from whom we can learn. This article highlights the lives of three such role models in the Bible.

Photo credit: Unsplash

Imagine illness grips your frame. The heat of fever weakens your body and you long for relief. Comfort. Desperate, you beg your companions to draft a series of favorite scriptures on sheets of paper and then hang them on the wall within eyesight. Your eyes caress each word. The verses linger on your tongue. Then, you release a final breath and enter His holy presence. 

Would you choose the seven penitential Psalms as your silent companions during the last days of your life? According to St. Augustine’s biographer, Possidius, the renowned church father did. The bishop wept, prayed, and meditated on the songs for ten days—his last moments focused on the Lord’s mercy and faithfulness. 

What about the penitential Psalms impacted St. Augustine and what should today’s Christians know about them? 

Photo credit: ©Getty/Tinnakorn Jorruang

Of all the Canaanite tribes, the Amalekites seemed to have a special hatred for the Israelites. Who were the Amalekites, and what did they have to do with God’s people?

Since scripture tells us that 'my God will supply all my needs,' why do Christians still struggle?

We know we all grieve in different ways, but some are healthy and some aren't. Does the Bible help us understand how to deal with grief in a God-honoring way?

While the 1936 Olympics swirled in controversy under Adolf Hitler’s influence, the example of two Japanese pole vaulters provided a ray of hope. Their story reminds me of Christ’s well-known phrase, “the first will be last,”—or, in these athletes’ case, second and third. An unusual situation occurred when Sueo Oe and Shuei Nishida vaulted the same height. Close friends, the men refused to compete for the silver medal.

Forced to decide which of them would accept the bronze, the eldest received the honor. Upon their arrival in Japan, the men severed their individual medals in half and fused a portion of each together. Their transformed medals represented what others through history have labeled the “medals of friendship.”

I believe these men provided an example of what it means for the “first to be last.” But why did Jesus say the “first will be last”? To answer this question, we need to dive into scripture.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/jacoblund

Resurrection Day is the culmination of Holy Week and one of the most important events in the Bible. Within this story we think we know so well are messages we need for today.

When we say a prayer for peace, we aren't just asking for things to go well. The Bible makes it clear that there is a special kind of peace in Jesus, which means more than just absence of trouble.

Selah is one of the Old Testament's more mysterious words, central to worship. Discover how the Bible defines this word.

What does the Bible say about mental illness? The Bible tells us that our God is big enough to overcome whatever we are facing.

Suffering, though, is not relegated to Christians alone. What does the Bible say about suffering and why everyone goes through it?

Jesus’s gift had incalculable value: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” ( John 14:27 NIV). But what was this peace?