There are a lot of Herodians in the Gospels and Acts. It gets pretty confusing if you’re not keeping a score card. Herod the Great and His Kids They all descend from Herod the Great, who the gospel of Matthew says was ruling as King of the Jews when Jesus was born. He died in 4-3… Read More »
Theories as Facts
Among students of the Scriptures, it is often hard to discern the theories from the facts. Someone in one generation develops an idea, and the next generation – who learned the idea in their college classrooms – teaches it as fact. Nowhere is this better illustrated than the theory of the “historical Jesus” which fuels… Read More »
The Sad State of Biblical Literacy
I was once told by a fellow pastor, “I don’t teach deep stuff. I just preach Jesus.” That sounds great on a surface level, doesn’t it? Let’s just preach Jesus because He is after all the Savior of mankind, right? If people believe Him, then they can sort everything else out eventually, right? Wrong. Jesus… Read More »
Some Background on Gedara and the Windstorm
Jesus’ encounter with the demonic forces on the Lake Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) occurs as he is trying to get to the region of Gedara. The name of the city itself means “border country” and it is essentially the eastern edge of Jewish influence. Beyond Gedara was the Decapolis, an entirely new municipality founded by… Read More »
Learning Exercises (ugh!)
One of the key reasons I don’t do conferences is that inevitably someone wants you to do some kind of “learning exercise.” I am a high-brain, verbal learner which means that I learn best by taking in information and teaching others, and most “learning exercises” do nothing for me. At the Biblical Imagination Conference we… Read More »
I am Outta Here – for the weekend
I am headed to Syracuse, New York, for the weekend for the Biblical Imagination Conference with the man, the legend, the awesomely bearded Michael Card. While I could never aspire to have a beard like his, Michael has long been one of my musical heroes. He combines teaching and art in a way that you… Read More »
Hillbilly Preachers, Homosexuals and Speaking Grace
A video of a North Carolina pastor was making the rounds of the internet recently. Pastor Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church begins a diatribe on placing “lesbins, q-u-weers, and hom-o-sessuals” (that’s how he pronounces the words) in what amounts to concentration camps so they will die out. The video has over a… Read More »
A Question of Faith
Recently, I spoke on Luke 8:4-18 – what is known as “The Parable of the Sower.” The passage deals with the complex issue of why some people are “saved” and others are not, and as I expected there were a lot of questions about the nature of salvation. Particularly, someone asked about the meaning of… Read More »
Worship Manifesto, post 3
Worship cannot be generated through mood lighting or great musicians because the source of worship must be the understanding (in part, 1 Corinthians 13:12) of God’s glory in Jesus Christ. Worship is not of this world; it is an attribute of resurrection. Only those raised in Christ can truly worship.
Worship Manifesto, post 2
Worship can be found in all of these things, to some extent, but worship’s core is the person of Jesus Christ. At the very core of worship must be the gospel – that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, come to redeem and restore all of creation.
