I believe that the goal of the Christian life is to grow in the likeness and image of Jesus. As Paul says, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete [telos] in Christ” (Col 1:28). With this in mind, we might begin each day by asking, “Lord, help me, by the power of the Spirit, to reflect the love of Christ today.” NB: Of course, we could... Read more
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The question arises, What would Jesus think of this? In my last post, I began by asking, “How is the Gospel good news to the poor?”—which I intend to finish addressing in this post. I began by challenging the popular understanding of the story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4). I noted that Jesus was not, as all too often asserted, praising the widow’s... Read more
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The question arises, What would Jesus think of this? Certainly, this is a complex question with no straight answer. The problem is, as I see it, that many Christians have a poor understanding of the biblical concept of the kingdom of God and economics. And it is within this framework that I intend to address the question. NB: Although many readers will likely view this post... Read more
I, along with many others, expressed my condolences last week to the family and friends of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a Messianic Jewish couple, who were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum after attending a community event hosted by the American Jewish Committee in Washington, D.C. The suspect, Elias Rodriguez, who is not Palestinian, shouted, “Free, free Palestine!” and “I did it for Gaza.” This raises the question as to whether this attack was a denunciation of Jewish people... Read more
NB: This is my fourth post in my series on my personal journey of deconstruction/reconstruction. Here is the link to my three previous posts In my earlier posts I noted that my journey of deconstruction/reconstruction was predicated on two primary issues: 1) the church (I speak primarily of the evangelical tradition which I have been a part of) has lost sight of the Gospel and the kingdom and has replaced it with a me-centric version; 2) the church has been abusive.... Read more
Suppose a report surfaced showing that a local penitentiary refused to feed the prisoners on death row. Would we be outraged? Well, I hope we would be. Of course, some would attempt to say they don’t deserve food because of what they did. Others might say that giving them food is a waste. After all, they are going to die soon anyway. Our outrage at the starvation of prisoners on death row should not be diminished just because they have... Read more
Today (May 14), Israelis and most Jews around the world celebrate the 77th birthday of the nation of Israel. Tomorrow (May 15), Palestinians will commemorate the Nakba (“catastrophe”). What is a time of celebration for Israelis and many Jews around the world is a time of remembrance for Palestinians of the loss of land (over 500 Arab villages were either depopulated in order to be inhabited by Israelis or destroyed in 1948) and the expulsion of 750,000 Arabs. When it... Read more
Christian Nationalism is an oxymoron? How so? I begin by pointing out that the mere fact that we have to answer this question is proof enough. Perhaps, one of the greatest exhortations in the book of Revelation is found in 18:4, “Come out from her, My people.” NB: All translations from the book of Revelation are my own. The “her” in this passage is the Great Harlot, which, as I argue in my commentary, represents the commercial side of... Read more
While the world watches on, and while many Christians in the US continue to support Israel’s assault on Gaza, the genocide continues. In addition to the 52,000+ that are dead, over 15,000+ of whom are children, and these numbers are most assuredly low, Israel refuses to allow any supplies into Gaza. As a result, over 70,000 children have been hospitalized for severe malnutrition, over 1.1 million lack nutrition requirements for survival, over 2 million face food insecurity, and things are assuredly only... Read more
The claim is often made that all that is needed to end the war on Gaza is for Hamas to lay down its weapons and return the hostages: “If Israel lays down their weapons, there will be war, but if Hamas lays down its weapons, there will be peace.” This statement reflects a profound ignorance of the situation in Israel-Palestine and of the nature of violent reprisals in general. Huckabee’s ignorance Last week, Mike Huckabee, former pastor and now US... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In