Author: Skip Moen, Ph.D.

  • The Core

    Search me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.  Psalm 139:23-24  NASB Anxious thoughts – Do you have them?  Anxious thoughts, I mean.  You know, those deep, dark concerns that just don’t go away. …

  • Quando, Quando, Quando

    Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, but the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.   Proverbs 11:21  NASB Will be rescued – If you’re like me you might remember the song, Quando, quando, quando.  Perhaps you never heard the original Italian version (here it is).  Of course, it’s an Italian love song. …

  • Beautiful Death

    Staglieno is probably the finest monumental cemetery in the world.  It is in Genoa, where I was yesterday.  Here are some photos and a short video to take you there. VIDEO LINK CLICK HERE

  • Okay, Now What?

    Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him.  Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.  Proverbs 26:4-5  NASB 1995 Do not answer/ answer – Proverbs is instruction in piety.  It’s practical.  It’s didactic.  It’s anthropological (human) rather than divine.  “Live…

  • Let’s Fix That

    Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. Genesis 21:33 NASB The Everlasting God – In his article, “Genesis 21:33: A Study In the Development of a Biblical Text and Its Rabbinic Transformation,” Nahum Sarna examines several oddities found in this text.  The problems begin with the…

  • The Invention of God

    having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 NASB Cares – If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: the fundamental message of the Bible is “God cares.”  I believe it, but don’t ask me why.  Don’t ask because I feel what the prophets discovered. “History…

  • Spring Streets

    As I wandered around the streets today, I can across some amazing color designs. The wisteria is on an arbor planted in 1912. The brilliant crimson is on a tree called “the blood of Jesus” here in Italy. The iris is my version of “Purple Rain.”

  • A Just War

    The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.  Joshua 4:12 NIV Ready for battle – What does the odd Hebrew word ḥămūšîm really mean?  In the NIV it is translated “ready for battle,” but in the NASB it appears as “in…

  • Where is Israel?

    The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.  Joshua 4:12 NIV Crossed over – The auspicious day has arrived.  The tribes are about to conquer the Promised Land.  God has given them territories to occupy.  Soon the nation of Israel will…

  • The Edge of Belief

    Stricter judgment – “Sometimes I feel like a guide escorting others through the rooms of their own house.  What a treat it is to watch them open doors to rooms never before entered, discover unopened wings of their house containing beautiful and creative pieces of identity.”[1]  Irvin Yalom’s comment stirred similar feelings in me.  The…