I’ve always been a bit confused by the fact that the disciples weren’t expecting Jesus to come back to life after his brutal death on the cross. At the same time, it’s no surprise because the disciples quite consistent don’t...
As our conversation progressed, we became warmer towards one another with a growing mutual respect. As I asked David, the orthodox Jew seated next to me on a flight, hard questions about his faith and how it was different from mine, he continually...
(There will be two parts to this post about my conversation with an orthodox Jew on an airplane) As long as I can remember I have been fascinated with Judaism. I’m always learning everything I can about the various forms of modern-day Judaism. I’ve...
This is a short excerpt from Holiness in Fresh Perspective: Covenant, Cross, and Kingdom. Wipf and Stock, 2014. All rights reserved. Consider Romans 1:1–4 for a moment. This is Paul’s salutation to the churches in Rome. In this salutation, Paul does...
This is a short excerpt from Holiness in Fresh Perspective: Covenant, Cross, and Kingdom. Wipf and Stock, 2014. All rights reserved. Too often we read the gospels against an empty backdrop. As modern readers we tend to be very illiterate of the Old...
The book of Genesis is a book of origins. In fact, the titled itself, “Genesis” is the Greek word meaning “origins”. The Hebrew title of the book of Genesis is “bereshith” (ברשית) which means “in the beginning” (although there’s still quite a bit of...
Mark 2 is one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament. I love this chapter because Jesus does something quite radical that is rather easy to miss (interesting that we can miss something radical when we don’t have the eyes or context to see it)...
The people of Israel, while defeated and sent to exile, maintained hope for restoration. The catalyst for hope came through both the prophets (the exilic and post-exilic Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Obadiah, and...
We celebrated Pentecost last week. We are reminded during the season of Pentecost that Jesus, as he always does, fulfilled his promise to his disciples by sending the Holy Spirit. Questions remain, however, as to where we go from here. What does...
The Kingdom is now, but not yet. Jesus’ rule has been established through the Cross and resurrection. Through faith in Jesus people are able to becomes citizens of the Kingdom. At the same time, the Kingdom is not yet. Jesus has yet to pronounce...