Wayne Stiles's Blog

Wayne Stiles connects the Bible and its lands to life.

Every January, the urge to make new year changes tugs hard. There’s just something about flipping that calendar over that taps us on the shoulder and says: “It’s time for a change.”

(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)

We long to grow and develop to our full potential. With that as a goal, we love change. In fact, self-improvement is part of our culture. It’s huge! It sells change by marketing discontent.

But before you make those new year changes...

Wayne Stiles connects the Bible and its lands to life.

God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a great example of how to take comfort when the future seems unclear.

(Photo: Giza pyramids. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

God warned Joseph in a dream, and he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to live until Herod’s death. Scripture never tells us where the holy family lived whi...

God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a great example of how to take comfort when the future seems unclear.

(Photo: Giza pyramids. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

God warned Joseph in a dream, and he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to live until Herod’s death. Scripture never tells us where the holy family lived while in Egypt. But there’s a cluster of churches in Cairo tha...

Roads are often built for one reason, but God uses them in our lives for another altogether. The Appian Way in Rome proved this so in the life of the Apostle Paul. I walked the road recently.

(Photo: Walking the Appian Way)

The Roman official Appius Claudius took the initiative to build a road in 312 BC as a means of transporting troops and supplies to and from Rome. In time, the road took his name and helped secure a Roman victory in the Second Samnite War. The Appian Way proved a huge succes...

Two gardens in the Bible, Eden and Gethsemane, provided the settings for two choices that brought opposite results. The Bible wildly contrasts these choices. In fact, you face them today.

(Photo: The Garden of Gethsemane. Notice the city walls in the distance. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

In the Garden of Eden, Adam’s choice to sin had the potential of bringing condemnation to everyone. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s decision to die for sins provided potential justi...

The best way to make sure we respond positively to the opportunities God provides us is to prepare ahead of time for them. But how do we anticipate those moments? The Lord has shown us how.

(Photo: Scribe copying the Scriptures. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

At the end of the exile, God moved the heart of the pagan King Artaxerxes to allow Ezra — a scribe and priest — to return to Jerusalem in 458 BC. Fourteen years before Nehemiah returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem...

Local schoolchildren ate their lunches across the olive grove from my wife and me.

Like the kids, we came on a field trip to explore ancient Shiloh. Although our lunch was hardly a feast, it reminded me of the reasons the young nation of Israel initially came to this site. They came to worship at the annual feasts before the Tabernacle at Shiloh.

(Photo: Area of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Courtesy of Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Ask most Americans where Shiloh is, and you’ll likely get a b...

We come to the line every day. It’s a border. Fear keeps us from stepping over it. What we see feels more compelling than what God has said. Kadesh Barnea was such a place.

(Photo: Kadesh Barnea. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Two decisions at Kadesh Barnea determined the future. Twice God’s people stood on the edge of their future. The first time, the Hebrews made the decision; the second time, Moses did. Nobody made an announcement of what would happen at Kadesh.

No one kn...

All my life as I’ve studied the Bible and heard it taught, reading the odd list of Canaanite names feels like driving over potholes. I think, Why doesn’t somebody fill in those holes? Who were the Canaanites, and why should I care about them this week?

(Photo: Megiddo’s Canaanite temple and sacrificial altar. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

In fact, most of the time when I hear preachers read the list of “Canaanites, Hittites, and Jebusites,” they typically add “Termites” to...

For most Christians, the book of Leviticus is as untraveled as the wilderness in which Moses wrote it. It’s not hard to understand why. I mean, who cares about sacrifices no longer needed or diet codes no longer in effect? Can they teach us anything today? In a word: plenty. (Photo: Offerings were made in the Tabernacle. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)[/caption]

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable. —2 Timothy 3:16

Here’s a brief summary of the five offerings in Le...