As a Bible teacher, I hear the phrase “the plain meaning of the text” all the time. It’s used in the context of, “the right interpretation (i.e., “way to read”) of the text is the plain meaning of the text.”...
Most people in the western world today know that Jesus died on a cross. The question is, why did he die? Most Christians would respond to that question with a theological answer. That is, they would say that Jesus died in order to take away the sin...
(This is from my wife’s blog (mshaiti.blogspot.com). I thought I would share for TIS readers.) I’ve got goosebumps. This is good. On Wednesday during the Academic Convocation, I was walking around the front of the chapel, trying to get...
This week, people around the world celebrated Mardi Gras. Mardis Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday” has its roots in Roman Catholicism (and other Christian traditions). Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday, which marks the...
In the opening chapters of 1 Samuel we find the story of a struggling family. Don’t you love, by the way, that the heroes in the Bible are the ones who struggle, the ones whose lives are messy? He came for the sick. What’s particularly noteworthy...
Psalm 1 answers a very simple question, “How can one be happy?” (the Hebrew word translated “blessed” in most English translations in Psalm 1:1 is “asher” which means “happy”). The first thing the psalmist does in answering that question is talk...
Romans 1:1–6 reads: Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to...
Outside of Jesus we are all completely and utterly bankrupt, and it is not until we come to the place of embracing this that we can fully receive him. The Bible affirms this point of theology. The book of Joel starts out by talking about locusts...
Another great one from Oswald Chambers. And Abraham built an altar … and bound Isaac his son. Genesis 22:9. This incident is a picture of the blunder we make in thinking that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants...
The Bible is full of commands. The most popular commands of scripture are the Ten Commandments. Anyone who went to Sunday School as a child were probably taught the Ten Commandments. There are other commands in the Bible as well. The Jewish...