I will be teaching a course on kingdom of God at Regent College this summer… think about signing up: Regent College is embarking on the 44th Annual Regent College Summer Programs (www.rgnt.net/summer) with a line-up of 40+ courses that have been carefully selected to help equip people to live out their faith in the world. Regent’s Summer term is different from the regular terms in that it is a term filled with rich teaching from a wide variety of world class... Read more

God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more

From Jason Micheli: Which Son of the Father Would You Choose? – Matthew 27.15-26 If I could offer you a choice: between a savior who tells you to return hate with love, or a savior who gives you permission to strike back at those who do you evil- if I could give you a choice, which one would you choose? If you could choose: between a savior who says: ‘those who pick up the sword will die by it,’ or a savior... Read more

By John Frye: Twice now in two different churches that I served, Good Friday became a very memorable occasion. Working with a team of people and local funeral homes, we borrowed an upscale casket, arranged colorful flowers and held a funeral service for Jesus. We actually had a black Cadillac hearse parked outside the church building entrance so that when people arrived their curiosity was immediately aroused. When people walked into the sanctuary, the initial visual of the coffin, the... Read more

On Good Friday we remember the story of Jesus’ death. We participate in that death through eucharist in faith. And we celebrate the good news of that death in thinking and pondering the immense love of God for us — to clear our debt, to shoulder our load, and to remove our sins. Perhaps three prepositions of atonement will be of some use to you today: He died with us. At the heart of the death of Jesus is that... Read more

From Daniel Clendenin: The earliest believers interpreted the life and death of Jesus in different ways — as substitute and sacrifice, ransom and reconciliation, adoption and example. But pride of place goes to what’s called “Christus Victor,” another ancient view that was reinvigorated by the modern Swedish theologian Gustav Aulén (d. 1977) — that in his life, death and resurrection Jesus conquered the powers of sin, death, and evil that enslave us. The apostle Paul says as much. Jesus “destroyed death” (2 Timothy... Read more

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.... Read more

CenterPoint Church in the heart of Concord, NH, is a grace-filled ministry where stories of grace fill the air, and I was honored to be invited to CenterPoint, where David Butler is the lead pastor. In their preparation for Easter and beyond, CenterPoint is focusing on the question “Who is Jesus?” and I was invited to speak about the Appeal of Jesus. We hear so much about how cold the church is in the Northeast but my experience is that... Read more