This summer I am working on my upcoming book on Esther for Wipf and Stock. This has taken me miles away from Galatia (where my doctoral research has largely resided) to the capital of the Persian Empire, Susa. Additionally, I am no longer in the first century, but am thinking about the reign of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus in Hebrew) in the fifth century before Christ. Needless to say, it has been a complete change of...
“GET ME OUT OF HERE! Seriously, it’s time for the Second Coming. Lord, I want you back. Like, ASAP.” That’s a glimpse into my prayer life over the past few months. Maybe that’s been your prayer, too. I think we’ve all felt the weight of recent events and wondered when Christ will come again. Remember these headlines? “Gunman massacres 20 children in Connecticut.” “Philadelphia abortion doctor beheaded live babies.” “Blasts at Boston Marathon kill 3,...
In August of 2011 I wrote a post entitled, “Sex and Eschatology.” In that post I essentially tried to articulate that sex is a biblical type. It functions typologically as a pointer to the eschatological joy of believers. If you are interested in how I articulated this check out the post here. The reason for revisiting this post is because of a blog posted yesterday (May 6) by Dr. Len Hjalmarson (nextreformation.com). Dr. Hjalmarson, who...
Last week I reviewed mewithoutYou’s new album, Ten Stories. As I wrote the review I thought about the idea of “Christian Music.” This is something that I’ve been wrestling with for a while. For some Christians, they only listen to “Christian Music” and deem it a sign of impiety to do otherwise. I imagine this is a minority view among evangelicals, but it’s still prevalent. I want to say much more about whether the nomenclature...
The end of Lent is nearly a week away and Easter is quickly approaching. AND did you know that last week – March 23, 2012 – the world celebrated National Puppy Day? Now I know what you’re thinking, what does Easter have to do with puppies? The simple answer: all dogs go to Heaven. As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus we acknowledge the victory accomplished against Sin and Death. This event is central to our...
A few weeks back, my fellow blogger, John Dunne, posted an article in which he critiqued his Amillenial[1] beliefs. I too am an Amillenialist and became one around the same time as John. I think we both read the same book (A Case for Amillenialism by Kim Riddlebarger) within a few months of each other. We also regularly attended Friday night lectures with Dr. Riddlebarger at Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim. As time has passed,...
Back in May 2007 I posted a little blurb on my silly little blog (Dunne’s Discourses) about how I had become an Amillennialist. The main person responsible for my conversion was Pastor Kim Riddlebarger of Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, CA. His book A Case for Amillennialism is one of the best at defending the position from a Reformed perspective. Since it is almost the fifth anniversary of my eschatological conversion from Dispensational Premillennialism to Reformed Amillennialism...
“Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world.” This quote, posted by Mark Zuckerberg in tribute to Steve Jobs on the day of his passing last week, makes a pretty incredible statement: Steve Jobs qualifies to be remembered as a person of such influence, that he can go down in history as a “world changer.” In fact, the Apple Board of Directors, in their released comments, says “the world is immeasurably better...
I say kind of because I’m very inconsistent. On the one hand I enjoy movies about famous wars or war heroes (Gladiator, The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan), I like some violent video games (Halo, Call of Duty), and I have complete respect for those who are willing to support their country and subject themselves to the terrors of war. Yet, I can’t help but feel like the ethics of Jesus are incompatible with...
I remember when I was younger being told that Jesus could come back at any moment. Instead of erupting in joy at such a statement I would often think that Jesus should wait, perhaps until I have at least been married and had sex first. Now, I’m fairly confident that I’m not in the minority on this. But obviously, there is something completely backwards about this type of thinking. Do we seriously desire to postpone the grand...
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