Is Cremation a Sin?
Is it a sin to cremate the Dead? When I was a kid in Church, it was common to hear adults reference the cremation of the dead as a sin.…
Hems, Tassels, & Weird Encounters: 1 Samuel 15, Part 3 (Video)
This is the last installment of the 1 Samuel 15 discussion before we move on to the garment imagery in Numbers 15 with the giving of the tassel. Worth every…
Hems, Tassels, & Weird Encounters: 1 Samuel 15, Part 2 (Video)
Will the wonder never cease? Keep watching to learn about the power of garment imagery in the Bible and how understanding it opens the true meaning of many texts. …
Hems, Tassels, & Weird Encounters: 1 Samuel 15, Part 1 (Video)
This is the first of a long series looking at garment imagery in Scripture. Keep watching as these unfold… you’ll be glad you did. We have several the look first…
A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day Part 2 of 2 (Video)
In part two of A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day we conclude our discussion on two often overlook storm theophanies, one in Genesis 3 and the…
A Still Small Voice in the Cool of the Day Part 1 of 2 (Video)
In this video, I begin a discussion about two overlooked storm theophanies in the Bible, one in Genesis 3 when God comes on in judgement against Adam and Eve, and…
I’d Like to Sucker Punch Genesis 1-11
I’ve found myself in a bit of a quandary when trying to help other believers see Genesis the way that I have come to see it after years of studying…
When God Commanded Israel to Break His Law
There is an interesting twist, if you’ll pardon the pun, in the tassel command from Numbers 15:38-41 when it is woven (sorry I just can’t stop myself) into the new…
Why Hassle with a Tassel?
The tassel attached to the Hebrew male’s outer garment is a wonderful example of artifact communication in the Bible. That is, the tassel is an item used in Israel to…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Jesus, The Prophet of Prophets
In our last two posts on the incident at Nain, we discussed the importance of geographical study as something deeper than map investigations, and the importance of typology for an…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
What the Woman Caught in Adultery Shouldn’t Teach Us: Law, Grace & Bad Hermeneutics
John 8:7 is especially popular with non-Christians who resent any suggestion within Christianity that they are sinners in need of salvation. It is usually paraphrased, “He who is without sin,…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
Jesus as Gospel: Is there Emperor Typology in Mark 1:1?
Some have suggested that the “OF” case in Mark 1:1 in the phrase “Gospel of Jesus” is objective… meaning that Jesus is the gospel and not merely the preacher of…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 1: A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
Even a brief scan of 1 Samuel 15 should be enough to perplex the average reader. Here YHWH commands Samuel to command Saul to utterly destroy a people called the…
Did God Invent Covenant?
So you are reading a prophetic vision story in the Bible, perhaps say, 1 Kings 22:19ff, and God appears sitting on a heavenly throne. Have you ever asked yourself the…
Finding Covenant in a Lost World: A Fairytale
Once upon a time in a far away land, people made covenants. They were very happy with their covenants and everyone understood them. These covenants were so powerful in their…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Intertestamental History & Literature
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
A Baptism in Confusion: 3 Baptisms in Mark 1:2-13
In our last episode, we introduced the bare bones essence of water baptism as an ancient covenant ratification act saturated with typical death imagery and corresponding OT interests in ordeal…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
A Baptism in Baptism
So you read the whole Old Testament. You read it several times. Having immersed yourself in the literature that your Bible, by its basic structure, seems to promise as the…
Bible Backgrounds
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Name that Quote: Exodus 23:20, Malachi 3:1, and Isaiah 40:3 in Mark 1:2
I will never forget my first Master’s paper at Regent University. I called it, “How They Got This Out of That.” I worked hard in my undergraduate programs (Yes, programs…
Historical History & the Little Scholar Who Could
One of the benefits of a being raised in a blue collar environment and receiving academic training is that I tend to experience the full force of learning. This means…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
So, a Donkey and an Ox Wander into a Parallel: Exodus 23:3-6
To the Hebrews context mattered a good deal. Our own struggles to understand the use to which some New Testament writers put certain Old Testament texts may make us doubt…