The following excerpt was written by Victor Montalvo. Victor is the lead pastor of Reality Community Church in Sanford, FL, the city where Trayvon Martin was killed. Reality Community Church is a diverse congregation — a mix of Latino, Anglo, African-American, and Asian congregants. — Did the jury make the right call? I just don’t know. The reality is that, above all else, this was an extremely complicated situation with both individuals involved operating from a sense of fear. Trayvon feared he... Read more

One of my favorite commentaries is The New International Greek Testament Commentary. While I don’t own the entire set, I have several volumes. The most recent I’ve obtained is The Epistle to the Thessalonians. I’ve been thumbing through it, and like the other volumes in the series, I’ve found it to be helpful. Here’s a description from the publisher: The letters of Paul to the newly founded Christian community at Thessalonica hold a special place within the Christian tradition as... Read more

I love books. My library contains thousands of them. But I’m a slow reader. Very slow, in fact. That’s why I value Leaders Book Summaries. This is a service for Christian leaders who want to up their reading game, enabling them to consume scores of books in record time. I’ve interviewed Dave Frederick twice over the years. Dave is the founder of Leaders Book Summaries. Here are the two interviews back to back. You can also get a FREE issue... Read more

As all my blog subscribers know, I try to let you know about excellent resources for the deeper journey. Today, I wish to do just that. The IVP Bible Dictionary contains 8 volumes of the best and most up-to-date scholarship available on both Old and New Testaments. I own the whole set and it’s indispensable for deep Scripture studies. Every serious student of the Bible should own this set. Christian Book Distributors has the book on deep discount right now.... Read more

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One of the things that I’ve railed against for years is the common penchant for Christians to make some “thing” about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God the “whole thing.” That was the message of Jesus Manifesto. I’ve also made no small ruckus about how important the ekklesia is to God and His Eternal Purpose. I’m happy to say that I’ve found a kindred soul on some of this in Old Testament scholar John Nugent. Today, I interview John... Read more

Shortly after Pagan Christianity released, a friend of mine (who is brilliant) created a video response to the many straw-man/misleading reviews that were circulating about the book. Jesus taught us to agree with our adversaries (Matt 5:25). So the video is quite Scriptural. I still find it interesting that some people continue to write misleading critiques of the book, yet refuse to come on this blog to discuss/debate the issues with me . . . despite my continued invitations for... Read more

B&H publishers sent me a copy of their new book, Jesus, In His Own Words, authored by the renowned Greek scholar Robert Mounce. The book is great. First, it weaves all four gospels together to create one unified narrative in chronological order. So you are reading all four gospels as one story in its historical sequence from eternity past with God the Father (John 1), to Bethlehem, to the ascension. Second, it removes chapters and verses so the narrative reads... Read more

The Anabaptists were part of the Radical Reformation. As such, they are some of the people on whose shoulders I stand. They stood outside the organized church of their day, but paid a bloody price for it. Literally. The dedication I wrote in Pagan Christianity is written to them as well as to those who came before and after to maintain the testimony of Jesus without compromise in the earth. Here it is: To our forgotten brothers and sisters throughout the... Read more

The ESV Readers Bible is an amazing new concept in Bible production and format. The publisher sent me a copy and I love it. Here’s the description from the publisher: “The ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set stems from the conviction that the Bible is of immeasurable value and should therefore be treasured—and read in the most seamless way possible. Constructed with materials carefully selected to reflect the beauty of God’s Word, the ESV Reader’s Bible, Six-Volume Set is a unique... Read more