The Gift Imagine you could fix the world. All of it. The Refugee crisis, the Nuclear arms race, racial tensions, global poverty, and epidemic loneliness. Imagine that you could fix all of that with the snap of your fingers. Would you? Obviously, anyone with a heart would say yes to that. And yet, Jesus ironically did not. I am in a series reviewing John Nugent’s challenging book Endangered Gospel. Last week, I wrote about Nugent’s idea about how God created... Read more

Apologetics in a postmodern world is looking less for historical proof, scientific demonstration, and systematic omniscience. Rather, it is looking for honest, open, and genuine probings that have less certitude while holding firm to belief in a good God who loves us but who has not created a world where everything ends up with happy emojis. Krish Kandiah explores in his new book the genuine paradoxes of the Bible in an open and honest manner. Paradoxology: Why Christianity Was Never... Read more

The NT vision is for a “fellowship of differents.” Here it is: Transformation Church. Read more

The Sea of Galilee Pictures by Erick Hodge: Sir Hodge Read more

Matthew anchors the story of Jesus in Israel’s history. If we are unfamiliar with the Old Testament Scriptures and this history, we will miss important parts of the message.  This is especially true in the prelude to Jesus’ public ministry in chapters 1-4. Richard Hays (Reading Backwards and Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels) explores these connections. Matthew encourages the reader to see Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament precursors, particularly Moses, David, and  Isaiah’s Servant figure. … Matthew’s... Read more

By Dennis Edwards, used from Missio Alliance with permission. Image Look for Dennis Edwards, 1 Peter, coming soon with the Story of God Bible Commentary! Dennis hails from New York City, by way of Washington, DC. He’s a learner and a teacher, a husband and a father, a pastor and servant. His BS degree is from Cornell (chemical engineering), his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and both his MA and PhD (in Biblical Studies) are from The Catholic University... Read more

This was one of my all-time teaching highlights, getting to teach a parable of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum. (Historian’s alert: this floor is built on top of the 1st Century synagogue. But close enough.) Picture by Erick Hodge: SirHodge Read more

I was unaware that Tiger Woods had a stutter, but read this about him and Bill Walton the other day: Top-ranked golfer Tiger Woods tells CBS’s 60 Minutes that it takes hard work and a competitive spirit to overcome childhood stuttering. “The words got lost, you know, somewhere between the brain and the mouth. And it was very difficult, but I fought through it. I went to a school to try and get over that, and I just would work... Read more

A biblical word for the Lord’s supper is eucharist, which means “thanksgiving” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Other words are used in the Christian tradition: (the ordinance of the) Lord’s supper, communion, the table, the holy sacrament, mass and divine service. I’m not into battling over which one is the best but it has been observed that what one calls the eucharist may well reveal to which church group you belong. Exceptions apply of course: I was always surprised when Bill Hybels... Read more

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more