It’s risky business to talk about the cross in ways that mainstream protestant-evangelicals aren’t used to. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I do this quite often. There are several dimensions of the cross and salvation (soteriology and...
At first blush, the Synoptic Gospels (Matt, Mark, and Luke) are so different from the gospel according to John. Two of the three Synoptics start with the genealogy of Jesus (Matt and Luke). Mark jumps right into the story with John’s ministry...
This is from Stacey’s blog about the message Junior and I preached yesterday. She’s an excellent writer. Enjoy! Sunday’s when Matt and Junior preach together are my very favorite, always. Neither of them were planning on...
I was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti just a couple of weeks ago teaching a Masters course for Indiana Wesleyan University for 40 Haitian students. The title of the course was Exegetical Analysis of the Gospels. The core of the course focused on methodical...
I mentioned in my last post that Jesus’ teaching was subtle. I chalked this up to the vastness of his teaching. I said that the reason he was so subtle is because what he was saying was so multi-faceted that one cannot grasp it all at first glance...
This is a great article by Scot McKnight reviewing N.T. Wright’s new book Simply Good News.
John’s gospel is unique in so many ways in comparison to Matthew, Mark and Luke. One of the things making John’s gospel unique is the story of the wedding at Cana; it’s one of my favorite stories in the gospel material. One of the things that I love...
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. — Matthew 13:31 God’s Kingdom, while being entirely transcendent and different than the human kingdoms of this broken, corrupt, and decaying world...
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believers, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. —Romans 1:16, emphasis added. Often times we overlook the fact that 99% of Jesus’ recorded words in the...
When God fulfills his World Renewal Plan through Jesus, his Son, he is not only setting up a government (Kingdom metaphor), but also creating a family. This, once again, means that our metaphors for God’s World Renewal Plan will often times flow...