Jesus Creed
The first Act of Advent is Adoration, and today’s text, drawn from the stories about Simeon and Anna from Luke 2, once again draws us into seeing why we are led to adoration. (more…) Read more
The first Act of Advent is Adoration, and today’s text, drawn from the stories about Simeon and Anna from Luke 2, once again draws us into seeing why we are led to adoration. (more…) Read more
Every year at the annual meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature I meander through the book stalls, make some purchases, and set myself up for another year of reading and researching. Today I want to make some book suggestions in the general area of commentaries and reference books. Pastors, preachers, students, professors and those seriously studying the Bible and theology can find something here. You might want to play a trick I always play: wrap one up, put it... Read more
Many theology professors inform classes that the average Christian is “docetic”. That is, they explain how most Christians affirm the humanity of Christ but when it comes down to it they are often uncomfortable with what it means to embrace Jesus’ full humanity. So, the humanity of Christ for many only “seems” to be human — he’s God in skin. That sort of idea. Those same theologians also must inform classes that many Christians totally ignore the Holy Spirit. (Which,... Read more
The first Act of Advent is Adoration, adoration of God who in Jesus Christ has enacted his great and lasting promises to Israel. Why is the first Act of Advent Adoration? (more…) Read more
Christopher Wright openly and honestly admits that those of us who adhere to a classic form of belief in God — God is good, holy, loving, sovereign — have a problem: evil. Evil is a problem for any thinking Christian — a serious problem. Simply put: if God is good, we have to ask why there is evil. If God is sovereign, we have to ask why there is evil. And if God is good we have to ask if... Read more
Joshua Guthrie, son of a friend of mine (George Guthrie), is a young man with a heart to help the poor find water. I’d encourage you to go to his site and donate a dollar. He is calling his vision “dollar for a drink” and is part of building water wells in Sudan. We’d love to see a good response from the Jesus Creed blog community … Joshua’s goal is $8000 by Christmas and he’s over half way. It’s this... Read more
Advent begins on bended knee, on the knee of adoration of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord and Savior and King. Today’s text is from Luke 1, and this text too illuminates the nature of Advent adoration. (more…) Read more
I (RJS) saw Ben Stein’s “documentary” movie EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed over Thanksgiving on DVD, or I saw parts of it anyway – some of the family saw the entire movie. I have also been asked about this movie at church on occasion. I have to say, I found the movie very hard to watch because of the format, which is designed for sound bites, entertainment and sensationalism, rather than accuracy and information. (more…) Read more
Another letter about women in ministry … and this letter illustrates a very important point we all need to be aware of in “applying” the Bible: each culture summons us to live in ways appropriate to that culture. But, and this is important too, the Christian will work for kingdom conditions to work like yeast in each culture so that God’s ways of justice and peace and love will become living realities. But, it means beginning in different places in... Read more
The first “act” of advent is to adore the Lord. Our text this morning, one that can give us more than enough space to see why we need to begin Advent on the note of adoration, is Mary’s Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55: (more…) Read more
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