Bible Scholar Takes Contemporary Miracles Seriously

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

A recent issue of Christianity Today magazine featured a fascinating interview with New Testament scholar, Craig Keener. Keener, a prolific scholar who now teaches at Asbury Seminary, recently published a massive two-volume work entitled Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. In his typically encyclopedic fashion, which required 1172 pages, Keener examines the evidence for the miracles in the New Testament. He finds that evidence to be persuasive. All of this is not especially surprising, given Keener’s solid, orthodox... Read more

Prodigious Procrastination and the Great Big Box

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

When I walked into my office suite today, I saw a great, big box. According to the printing on the box, it contains a new printer for the office. That’s good news, because our old printer is biting the dust, day by day, bite by dusty bite. There’s another bit of good news here. Where I work, we have an IT team of top-notch experts who can do things like setting up new printers in their sleep. Therefore, I will... Read more

Great Writing on Work and Faith

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

TheHighCalling.org hosts “Everyday Conversations About Work, Life, and God.” Recently, The High Calling features some of the best articles on work written in 2011. I would encourage you to check them out. You Are More Than Just a Job Title by Bradley J. Moore When I was 29 years old I interviewed for a business development position as a step up from my current job. Although it offered more career opportunities, the title wasn’t any different: “Account Manager.” Read more + How... Read more

You Belong to God: Inspiration from The High Calling

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

You Belong to God Psalm 100:1-5 Know that the LORD is God— he made us; we belong to him. We are his people, the sheep of his own pasture. Psalm 100:3 CEB I’ll never forget my first baseball uniform. As a member of the Athletics, a T-ball team in Glendale, California, I was privileged to wear a magenta uniform with a white number 8 emblazoned upon it. I can vividly remember gathering for the first time with my team as... Read more

How Do We Know God? The Answer of Epiphany

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

2 Timothy 1:8-11 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 2 Timothy 1:10 How do we know God? The Christian answer to this question flows from the essence of Epiphany. Today is Epiphany, the day after the twelve-day season of Christmas (or in some liturgical calendars, the twelfth day of... Read more

Keeping Christmas Well: Live with Graceful Generosity

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 How can we live rich, full lives? How can we flourish at work and at home, at church and in the community? 2 Corinthians 8 answers these questions by drawing out implications of the Incarnation of Christ. Second Corinthians 8 is a first-century fund-raising letter. The... Read more

Fascinating Conversations on Faith, Politics, and Culture

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

Looking for a serious yet available discussion of Mormonism and politics? Wondering about the current state of the religion vs. science debate? Curious about how the religious world looks from the perspective of an expert in the sociology of religion? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then let me point you to an excellent set of resources. The transcripts from the latest Faith Angle Forum and now available online, at not cost. The transcripts from the latest... Read more

Keeping Christmas Well: Live as a Child of God

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Galatians 4:4-5 Can we know God intimately, personally? How is this possible? How can we have a personal relationship with God? According to Galatians 4:1-7, the answers to these questions have everything to do with Christmas. Galatians... Read more

Keeping Christmas Well: Imitate the Humility and Sacrifice of Jesus

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. Philippians 2:7 How should the Incarnation impact our behavior in the Christian community? What does the fact that the divine Son became human tell us about how we should live? We find answers to these questions in what might be one of the very oldest Christians hymns: Philippians 2:1-11. For the most part, the Philippian church was a... Read more

Keeping Christmas Well: Be Part of Christ’s Presence in the World

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm By Mark D. Roberts

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 How is Christ present in the world today? How can you and I represent him in our daily lives? Our text from 1 Corinthians 12 answers these questions by use of an incarnational analogy. First-century Corinthian culture prized spiritual experience and personal accomplishment. Thus it encouraged both preoccupation with one’s religious prowess and prideful boasting. This cultural tide inundated the Christian... Read more