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...
Jesus said this often. The question is why? What did Jesus mean when he said this? After all, Jesus was a great teacher. At the same time, there were some pretty enigmatic things that Jesus said. After all, aren’t we still arguing quite a bit...
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...
The Cross and Resurrection together make up the only essential miracle of Jesus. Undoubtedly, the other miracles that Jesus performed are important. Not only are they important but they’re also fascinating. Jesus healed many, casted out demons...
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...