Galatians was the first book I studied when, as a high schooler, a claim on my life was experienced. I tell more of this story in the opening to my own commentary on Galatians (Galatians (The NIV Application Commentary) ), which can be interpreted as an early new perspective reading of Galatians. The emphasis was on salvation-history than on “badges” that separate Jews from Gentiles. We have a rich selection of commentaries on Galatians, and I reveal my own biases:... Read more
James 3:17-18 can be said to define Jesus. Notice these words: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. I am going to do something different today. I have put in bold the “friends of wisdom.” I want to ask you to show where you think Jesus exhibited each of these, but I’m... Read more
Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision. When the President of World Vision speaks, people listen. When the same person writes, people read. On our trip to South Africa I saw a man sitting in the middle of the plane on our flight from Paris to Johannesburg and I immediately recognized the book he was reading — because I was also reading it: Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that... Read more
Andrew Marin’s life is devoted to ministry with and to the GLBT community, and his approach to them is one of love, and his hope is to elevate the conversation. In the 7th chp of Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community Andrew proposes the “big 5” principles for a constructive conversation. These Big 5 move us out of the “yes vs no” debate to the power of “with”. What do you think of these Big... Read more
Americans of my vintage read Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country in our school days. That book’s protest was particularly important during the 1960s and 70s in the days of the civil rights movement. At the heart of Paton’s novel is Soweto (South West Township), the famous settlement of Africans who worked in the mines of Johannesburg. During the years of apartheid Africans lived in homelands, where they had the rights for self-government, needed a card to be outside their... Read more
Wisdom does not hang out with divisiveness. Wisdom can find its way into disagreements, but it will pursue the way of peace so it avoids being schismatic and divisive in style. Notice how James puts this in James 3:14-16: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish... Read more
A few years ago NT Wright published a short book on the authority of scripture: The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God–Getting Beyond the Bible Wars. Scot posted on this book when both the book and his blog were new (about 3 1/2 years ago), but it is worth a revisit in the context of our current discussion of the nature of the Bible as the Word of God. As we discuss an understanding of Scripture using terms... Read more
In the 5th chp of NT Wright’s new book, Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision , Wright explains the significance of Abraham in the middle of Galatians. Three issues emerge in chps three and four, and it gets to the heart of Tom Wright’s proposal within the new perspective — and it is not a denial of personal salvation but a placing of personal salvation within the context of what God is doing in history — and that dimension is... Read more
We were invited to Stellenbosch, South Africa, through the offices of Coenie Burger and Communitas, and the primary event was a conference on the Book of Acts and the Missional Church. Most of the speaking events I had while there, both in Pretoria and Stellenbosch, revolved around Acts and Missional themes. Here’s a brief on our speaking events to pastors — and I’ll do something soon on the conference in Stellenbosch: I was given an opportunity to give a public... Read more
Genuine wisdom manifests itself in living. Wisdom is not the same as “knowledge,” with the second term more tied to “information” and “mastery of facts.” Wisdom transcends knowledge as worship transcends music. Notice how James shows the importance of living for wisdom, and I quote from James 3:13: “Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” Wisdom is shown in “excellence of conduct” (my translation) in the active life of... Read more
Jesus Creed
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In