Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved Israel. As he unwittingly proto-typed Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Moses was distracted by a curious phenomenon: “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Ex. 3:3) Read the rest of the story here. Why is the bush not burned? Moses’ question is not answered, but Israel is set free from slavery. — Even more curious is the mystery of...
We believe what we sing, so it’s important to sing the most important doctrines of our faith. But I don’t think we give Jesus’ ascension the attention it deserves. Here is a beautiful hymn text that considers the Ascension biblically, theologically, and with implications for our lives, below with my comments: The author introduces us to the Ascended One with biblical allusions from the Psalms, most notably Psalm 24, from which Handel also helps us sing...
Question of Origins What are the origins of Christian baptism? A quick perusal of the biblical texts might leave one perplexed as to the sudden appearance of baptism in the New Testament.1 Immediately and without explanation one is confronted with the appearance of John “the Baptist” and the practice of baptizing in water (Matt 3:1ff). Everyone except the reader (i.e., the author of the text itself, the people in the accounts, and perhaps even the...
“I don’t know,” said Gavin, feet on the dash, brow furrowed in thought, “college students just aren’t that hospitable.” Driving away from a youth theater performance of Singin’ in the Rain, we exchanged reflections on home-finding, transience, and living on a micro-budget. While hospitality may slip by the wayside, students do a lot of other important, hard work, looking forward to the day we’ll graduate, find work, and really make home. But I think hospitality...
What does it mean to participate in the Lord’s Supper faithfully? Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 10 highlight the central story of Numbers to teach a lesson. . That’s how the chapter opens: teaching us a lesson from Numbers. The lesson is negative: “They all ate the same spiritual food [as us] and drank the same spiritual drink… Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now...
How preposterous a thought it is that in the often barren, frigid, and life-drained months of winter that we celebrate the birth of new life of Jesus, the God-Man. The church’s celebration of the resurrection seems to get it right- the rising from death to the glory of new life remembered on Resurrection Sunday seems aptly fit for the greening and budding months of Spring. Yet, the tapestry of the testaments are here to remind...
Christmas is about destruction. It’s about crushing. It’s about the elimination of God’s enemies. Intrigued? Let’s see what Matthew says. And as we do, remember: there is more than one way to eliminate and enemy… In Mathew 2:2, we see Magi, likely Babylonian scientists and astronomers familiar with the Jewish scriptures from Judah’s exile, have come to pay homage to a newborn king, because “we saw his star when it rose and have come to...
We call the message of a biblical text its theology. This is because the message is from God and it makes demands on our lives. It includes both the primary and ancillary theological principles that God inspired a text to communicate. A text’s message/theology represents the future-oriented direction of the text. In other words, its goal is to get us to conform our lives to it going forward. Old Testament narratives differ from NT epistles...
“One thing my dad always used to say was that it was only fair for him, or any pastor for that matter, to receive the same sort of compensation as any other teacher in that local market. Besides… being poor doesn’t make you any holier.” For whatever reason, about 4 years ago, this statement was pressed by the mother of one of my best friends as a conversation emerged around the subject of money came...
Next week begins a new opportunity for me. After several months of networking new connections, broadcasting my interest, data mining essential research, the Lord has truly provided an opportunity for advancement in my work that is beyond what I could have even crafted for myself. Looking forward to this opportunity, I can’t help but think about envisioning what success will look like: shattering established goals, doubling high value client relationships, propelling my team forward in...
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