Party Poopers
In Matthew 22, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a monarch who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. In our last blog, we examined the nature of this…
The Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus often used parables to convey his message, some of which are quite disturbing. Once such parable is found in Matthew 22: "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The…
Blessing and Obedience
Throughout the story of Abram/Abraham, God's promises are closely tied to Abraham's obedience & faithfulness. The account begins with Abram's obedience to the divine command: "Go from your country, your…
The Messiah in Us
This blog series has explored how Evangelical Christians have long misunderstood the book of Galatians & Paul's doctrine of "justification by faith." In short, evangelicals have constructed a false dichotomy…
Welcoming the Nations
Galatians is arguably the most misunderstood book in the New Testament. (Revelation makes a strong claim as well!) This letter contains Paul's most confrontational rhetoric. But why was Paul so…
The King Takes the Throne
All three synoptic gospels reach an initial climax by describing Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah. This blog has previously addressed the Hebrew term Messiah and it's Greek equivalent…
The Choice
Bible scholars have long recognized that Genesis 1 & 2 offer two complementary creation narratives. Genesis 1:1-2:3 contains a comprehensive account of how God formed the entire cosmos by bringing…
The Fall
I recently heard a Christmas sermon which purported to offer a broad overview of the Biblical story leading up to Jesus. Unfortunately, this sermon was flawed in ways which are…
The Lion of Judah
The book of Genesis lays the foundations for the story of the Bible. It begins with the creation account whereby God brings the universe into being by the power of…
The Fruitless Fig Tree
Mark 11 contains an excellent example of a literary "sandwich." The meat of the sandwich is the so-called cleansing of the temple. Many Christians fail to grasp the importance of…