Author Archives: Bryan Hodge

About Bryan Hodge

I am a minister and missionary to numerous countries around the world.

I Saw You Under the Fig Tree

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘ How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when … Continue reading →

Posted in evangelism, God`s eye, Honesty, plants, Soul Winning | Tagged an israelite without deceit, an israelite without guile, andrew, bartholomew, book of John, can any good thing come out of nazareth, cana, come and see, fig tree, God sees, honesty, i saw you under the fig tree, Jesus see, John 1:47-50, John 21:2, josephus, Nathanel, nazareth, philip, simon peter, son of tolmai, talmud, tolmai | 1 Comment

God Prunes Us

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear fruit. You are already clean … Continue reading →

Posted in evangelism, God`s word, Jesus, Meaning and Purpose, plants, Soul Winning, Textual study | Tagged 2 Chronicles 33:10-13, abide in me and I in you, barren and unfruitful, benfits of pruning, book of John, book the magnificence of Jesus, branches cast into fire, Can atheist bear fruit?, Can nonchristians bear fruit?, christian living, denton lectures, dub mcclish, ellipsis, evangelism, fruit bearing, fruitful in every good work, glorify God, God prunes us, Hebrews 12:5-6, How clean?, how does God prune?, humble, humility, i am the vine, John 15:1-4, John 15:1-8, only in Christ, plants, praising God, Proverbs 3:11-12, providence, Psalm 119:67-72, purpose in life, seven I ams, Soul Winning, studies in John denton lectureship, the fruit of our lips, the fruit of the Spirit, the magificence of Jesus, tom wacaster, true vine, vinedresser, you are the branches | 3 Comments

Would We Climb A Tree?

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus… he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was short of stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dedication, plants | Tagged Amos 7:14, bartimaeus, blind man cries out, burt groves, determination, ficus sycamorus, fig mulberry, four friends bring man to Jesus, how are we using God's creation?, how determined are we?, how much effort are we willing to make?, John 3:1-2, Luke 19:2-4, Mark 10:13-16, Mark 10:28, Mark 10:46-50, Mark 2:1-4, Mark 5:25-27, nicodemus, not deterred, parents bring children to Jesus, paul counted all things loss, peter left all, Philippians 3:8-ff, plantanus occidentalis, plants, short stature, sycamore fig, sycamore tree, tree climbing, trees, wanting to see Jesus, woman with issue of blood, zacchaeus | 1 Comment

Two Trees

Posted on August 5, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

There are some well-known living trees in the world today. Consider this list: (1) The General Sherman. It is a Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron Giganteum) located in Sequoia National Park in California. It is reported to be, by volume, the largest … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, plants, Temptation | Tagged acharya jagadish chandra bose india botanic garden, adam and eve, aloe vera, aspirin, book of Genesis, book of proverbs, book of Revelation, bristlecone pine, california, coastal redwood, Dennis Prager, eastern california, eternal life, eucalyptus, ficus benghalensis, Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3, gianat sequoia, ginger, goose isalnd state park, great basin bristlecone pine, guinessworldrecords.com, howrah india, india, inyo national forest, irony, katy schaffer, kolkata india, largest tree, lavender, nps.gov, oldest tree, overcome, overcome self, overcome wicked one, overcome world, peppermint, pinus longaeva, plants, plants with health benefits, Proverbs 11:30, Proverbs 15:4, Proverbs 3:13, Proverbs 3:18, quercus virginiana, redwood national park, Revelation 22:1-2, Revelation 2:7, righteousness, rockport texas, salicin, sarcasm, sequoia national park, sequoia sempervirens, sequoidendron giganteum, tallest tree, tempation, texas, The Big Tee at Goose Island, the garden of eden, The General Sherman Tree, The Great Banyon Tree, The Hyperion Tree, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, The Methuselah Tree, the pride of life, The rational Bible, the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, tpwd.texas.gov, tpwmagazine.com, trees, two trees in the garden, usda.gov, use of plants, virginia live oak, well known trees, who will be God, wholesome tongue, willow bark, Wisdom | 1 Comment

The Fable of the Trees

Posted on June 23, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them…” (Judges 9:8-ff). Did you know that there are fables, allegories, and parables in the Old Testament? (e.g., Numbers 23:24; Judges 9:7-15; 2 Samuel 12:1-4; 14:1-7; 1 Kings 20:35-40; 2 … Continue reading →

Posted in leadership, plants | Tagged 1978, abimelech, allegory, bible figures of speech, bramble, buckhorn, cedars of lebanon, clint lockhart, D.R. Dungan, desire for power, desire to be king, e.w. bullinger, fable, fable of the trees, fig tree, figures of speech, fire on shechem, gideon, gideon's sons, hermeneutics, irony, Judges 8, Judges 9, leadership, long metaphor, men of shechem, niv, niv study bible, olive tree, parable, parables and other figures of speech in Old Testament, plants, principles of interpretation, respect of persons, rock group rush, Rush, selecting a leader, song the trees by rush, thornbush, trees, vine, webster | 2 Comments

God Prepared a Plant

Posted on June 18, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery… But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, … Continue reading →

Posted in God, plants, Prophecy, prophets | Tagged 4 things God prepared for Jonah, book of jonah, castor oil plant, despising God's mercy, God prepared a plant, God's grace, God's mercy, gourd, jonah, Jonah 4, kikayon, nineveh, priorities, selfishness | Leave a comment

Like A Tree by Water

Posted on June 5, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like … Continue reading →

Posted in Judgment, plants, psalms | Tagged BDBG, chaff, delight in God's word, directing steps, God's word, hagah, hardened in sin, judgment, meditate, meditate on God's word, merrian webster, plants, progression of sin, Psalm 1, Psalm 92:12-13, robert taylor jr., siyach, the blessed man, The righteous, The ungogly, the way of the righteous, the way of the ungodly, tree planted by rivers of water, trees, walk stand sit, webster dictionary | Leave a comment

According to Its Kind

Posted on May 28, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit three that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Creation, plants | Tagged 1 Peter 1:22-23, according to its kind, apologeticspress.org, are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, biogenesis, book the genesis record, creation, encyclopedia.com, fred a. fillmore, Genesis 1:11-13, God in Genesis 1, grass, henry morris, herbs, Luke 8:11, Matthew 7:16, palmer hartsough, plants, seed, seed is the word of God, song sowing the seed of the kingdom, taxonomy, the law of biogenesis, trees, use of plants in Bible | Leave a comment

A Talking Serpent, A Talking Donkey, Caring Ravens, and A Man-Swallowing Fish

Posted on May 20, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

The Bible contains some events that some people find hard to believe. Let’s consider four of these. 1. The Serpent (Genesis 3)“Now the serpent… he said to the woman” (Genesis 3:1). How could a serpent talk? We should understand that … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, Apologetics | Tagged 1 Kings 17, adam and eve, adam clarke, anger, apologetics press, arndt gingrich, blaam, book preaching the art of narrative exposition, calvin miller, charles spurgeon, clen food brought by unclean animals, dahg, defending the faith study bible, devin dean, donkey, eat dust, elijah, elijah fed by ravens, enduringword.com, eve and serpent, four things that God prepared for jonah, Genesis 3, God can control animals, going against God, great fish, jonah, jonah and whale, ketos, lick dust, listening to truth, miracles, Numbers 22, orbo, oreb, ravens, satans power over nature, schertz lectures, sea creature, serpent, sheol, sign of jonah, stan crowley, talking donkey, talking serpent, temptation, the angel of the Lord, the pulpit commentaries, wayne jackson, whale | 2 Comments

Odd Association, Strange Fellowship, Wonderful Fellowship

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Bryan Hodge

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, church, Fellowship, Peace, Unity | Tagged animals, bear, calf and young lion, child and cobra, child and viper, cobra, cobra's hole, Colossians 3:11, cow, cow and bear, Ephesians 2:15, fellowship, Galatians 3:28, gentiles and jews, goat, Hebrews 12:14, holy mountain, Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:6-8, jew and gentile, John 17:20-23, lamb, leopard, leopard and young goat, lion, little child, Luke 6:12-16, Matthew 10:1-4, matthew the tax collector and simon the zealot, nursing child, ox, peace, peace in the church, Romans 15:12, russians and ukranians, the LORD's holy mountain, unity, viper, viper's den, weaned child, wolf, wolf and lamb | Leave a comment