Progressives Don’t Want to Help the Poor to escape Poverty—Entitlement Programs aren’t Charity or Charitable
One of the frustrations I face as a biblical theologian is the confusion that biblical laws regarding the poor cause Christians who cannot tell the difference between charity and entitlement…
Mother Necessity Reads the Bible
There is little doubt in my mind that there is a constancy to human nature that maintains a vital unity and relevance for human experience from age to age and…
There is no Jehovah
Being that few of my friends and neighbors have names that really mean something to us, (Other than Marsha Mello, Amanda Lynne, and Justin Case Yelle). I am intrigued about…
Confessions of a Troglodyte
I regard myself, perhaps wrongly, as a decent communicator, even if a bit snarky at times. I’ve dedicated most of my ministry energy to explaining complex ideas in biblical studies…
Hallelujah: Call “of” Praise or Call “to” Praise
After discussing, in my recent blog post, “Hallelujah is a Sentence,” that the biblical “term” Hallelujah has grammar and that we should both be aware of that grammar and use…
Safari Guide, Treasure Hunter, Biblical Theologian
As a good Evangelical… just a second, I have to adjust my halo… Okay, it’s got that 20s-gangster-hat tilt I like so much… So, as a good Evangelical who has…
The Worst Interpretive Rule I Ever Learned
If there is one thing I can say about the church I was raised in, indeed I can say many things about it, but this blog is rated PG-13, I…
Time Out!—The Kinetic Communication Wars
Today we have a guest Blogger. John Donnelly, Biblical Literacy Ministries Educator, Church Planter, Part-year missionary to India. Several years ago I was in Iguaçu Falls Brazil, planting churches with…
Without a Vision, People are Certain to Misinterpret Proverbs 29:18
I’m not sure which is worse, the constant misuse of Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) or how many times I find myself saying, “That’s not a good translation,” whenever I try to…
Rules, Rules, Rules
Today’s post is brought to you by Amy Kinder who has her Master of Arts in Biblical Studies with a concentration in the Old Testament from Ashland Theological Seminary. She…
A Prophet in Nain: Luke’s Portrait of Jesus in 7:11-16
In my previous post “The Inanity of Nain,” I introduced the importance of the physical association of Jesus’ raising of the widow’s son with Elisha’s wondrous raising of the Shunammite’s.…
The Inanity of Nain
Geography is part of historical context. Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn!!!!! No! Not just maps and boring stuff, but real places and the experience of living and moving and having one’s being there. Like…
I Have No Political Finesse
Categories, they are like crack for the left brained; they can’t get enough of them, can’t build barriers between them that are high enough, or thick enough. If the government…
Controversial Words on the Bullied
First, let me say that we need an easier way to speak of those souls who find themselves on the wrong end of a bully’s attention. Bullies get the easy…
Controversial Words on Bullies
Bullying is a complex topic, one that elicits extreme emotional reactions no matter what a person has to say about it. So I thought I might just make a few…
Phenomenal Biblical Theology
When I talk about Biblical Theology I usually intend an approach to Scripture that envelopes many things. Like ordering a car and understanding that it will come with a lot…
Why the Word “God” Makes me Uncomfortable
“Whose an Elohim? Raise your hand.” One of the problems with being a biblical theologian is the discomfort I suffer whenever someone’s question crosses lines between biblical and “Christian” categories.…
4 Things You May not Know about Holiness
Words for Holiness in Greek, Hebrew & Aramaic appear over 1000x in Scripture. Issues of holiness were important to those in the biblical era. Almost every aspect of life was…
What I Mean by Biblical Theology
How hard could it possibly be to find agreement on the meaning of a phrase as simple as biblical theology? In truth… harder than I’d like. Biblical theology is not,…
Our Pagan Souls
Read my blog long enough and you will find that I frequently bring up the frustration I feel as a right brained individual being often under the biblical studies thumb…
