When I was a child, I spent a lot of time irritating my teachers. I had the tendency to say, “What does that mean?” and “What am I supposed to do with that?” or “Why does this matter?” I was more practical back then than I am now...
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February 27, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Society
This is a heavily edited New Years Day message that I delivered at Darlington Congregational Church in Pawtucket Rhode Island a few years ago. Being heavily edited, it is not only short, but also gets to the point without a lot of hoopla. I consider the importance that...
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February 24, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
It is a piteous thing to look upon the suffering of others no matter what the cause of that suffering. A child born with disabilities whose own struggle to survive drains every last bit of nerve and resource that his or her loving family possesses. An undereducated, unskilled...
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February 22, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
Today we have a guest blogger. Melodie Sargent is a student at Northpoint Bible College and has written a short reflection paper on issues related to the reliability of Scripture. Rather than work the typical saws that we Evangelicals work in terms of fulfilled prophecy and the like,...
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February 17, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Theology
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Why does the media lean so far left? You might say, “It doesn’t lean left! It’s not biased!” In which case I imagine that you are left leaning and quite content with a sweeping bias that snuggles so nicely into your own perception of the world… and you...
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February 15, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
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When I first made my attempt at radio, I tried my hand at some discussions with just me and my recorder at home. I use audacity and love it. This is a funky version of me delivering a lecture without the intellectual stimulation of a bemused or confused...
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February 13, 2017 Andrew Sargent
HAGALAH
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There is something wrong with the world. Everyone, save a few Pollyanna hold outs, knows this. Thus, one of the most ideologically revealing questions that a person can answer is, “What is wrong with the world?” The second is like unto it, “Can it be fixed?”[1] These form...
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February 10, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
I wouldn’t normally write a blog in response to a Disney movie, but stranger things have happened to me… I can’t think of one right now, but I’m sure there was one. I recently watched the 2006 movie Cow Belles, where two spoiled rich girls learn the importance...
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February 8, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
A couple years ago, I received a phone call on a late Thursday afternoon asking if I could be the main speaker at a Men’s Conference two days hence. Something dreadful had happened to the scheduled speaker and they needed somebody fast and furious… without the guns and...
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February 6, 2017 Andrew Sargent
HAGALAH
No Comment
There is no solution, this side of eternity, for the human condition. Anyone who promises solutions is either selling something, stealing something, or completely disconnected from reality. This is the liar, lunatic or liar paradigm. (Lewis, forgive me.) The best we have in this world is a series...
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February 3, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
Okay, so we’ve established that reading the books of the writing prophets is hard. They wrote in poetry; they make casual reference to cultural practices of which the modern reader is completely ignorant; they preach to their own people about events that are happening around them, without feeling...
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February 1, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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Okay, so the Prophetic books in Scripture are both awesome and awfully difficult to understand. They have a pesky habit of preaching under divine inspiration about events that they never explain… they didn’t need to; their original audience already knew all about it. Another difficulty that plagues their...
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January 30, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
In MacArthur’s commentary on Titus, we find a complex tirade of sorts against the political Christian who involves himself or herself in an attempt to effect culture in America by getting involved in the affairs of the community. I do not propose to represent all of MacArthur’s thinking on...
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January 27, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
In my last post, I introduced the background to the book of Isaiah in vague pictures designed to capture the essence of the political, social & religious dynamic at work in his world. This portrait is an essential part of understanding the many prophetic sermons recorded in the...
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January 25, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
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Let’s be honest. Reading “The Prophets” is hard. Well, reading them isn’t hard, at least not in translation, but understanding them is. I’m talking about books like, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and The Book of the Twelve… what we like to call “the minor prophets.” These books are victims...
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January 23, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Old Testament Studies
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The garment hem plays an unexpected role in many Scriptures. It is unexpected because we have nothing like it in our western world. Below is a link a recent lecture I delivered on the subject of the importance of reading Scripture within ITS OWN historical context and not in...
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January 20, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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I love puzzles, always have. Growing up, I saw puzzles of all kinds as a natural exercise of my desire to be a detective someday, tracing out subtle clues to help me zero in on bad guys. Becoming a biblical scholar, then, has always seemed right on target...
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January 18, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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One of my favorite gags in the old 1980’s TV show, Taxi, has a nervous Tony Danza shaving several times throughout the day to keep himself fresh looking for an important late afternoon appointment. At nearly the last minute he comes down the stairs in the taxi center...
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January 16, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, New Testament Studies
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There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at 40 you have no brain.” Indeed, liberals are often accredited with having a heart to help the less fortunate… mostly because it is easier...
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January 13, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
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How many Israelite characters can you name who ministered to Gentiles? Moses came out of Egypt with a mixed multitude who were absorbed into Israel. David had Gentiles as part of his entourage. Like Uriah whom he murdered after stealing his wife. Elijah won Naaman in 2nd Kings...
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January 11, 2017 Andrew Sargent
New Testament Studies, Old Testament Studies
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