Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
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Theology
Controversial Christ… the Radio Spot. Take a Listen.
This is the 3rd narrative sermon in the gospel of Mark. In it, Mark uses a repeated story pattern to develop the increasing tensions between Jesus and the religious leaders…
Successful Charity vs. Dysfunctional Enablement
When do you know that your charity efforts have been successful? You have not succeeded when a stream of the same hungry people eat from your hand day after day…
The Parable Preaching Pattern… the Radio Spot. Take a Listen.
This is a highly edited sermon on the 5th narrative sermon of the Gospel of Mark. In it I address Mark’s depiction of Jesus’ parable telling. It is the first…
The Coming of God in the Coming of Christ… Radio spot. Take a listen.
This is the first of a series of sermons drawn from a course I teach on inductive study that I call, MEETING THE JESUS OF MARK. I introduce the idea…
Do the New Testament Writer’s Care About Context, Part 5: The Life of Biblical Texts
In this series I am unpacking seven paths of investigation that a person should take in his or her attempt to understand a New Testament author’s USE of an Old…
Let’s Think About This Practically: A Response to “I Lost My Purity (And I Haven’t Had Sex)” Part 2
The article, “I Lost My Purity (And I Haven’t Had Sex)” is well written, provocative, cleverly titled, and advances the true notion that sexual purity is bigger than virginity, fornication,…
Let’s Think About This Practically: A Response to “I Lost My Purity (And I Haven’t Had Sex)” Part 1
It is common to find certain posts on social media that have gone viral. They are usually something provocative that challenges (at least in my circles) the standard Evangelical Christian…
Deadly Compassion: When Suffering Trumps Discipleship
I’ve been reading of late, a lot of viral posts on social media in which a person accuses pastors and churches, teachers and schools, politicians, police, government agencies and the…
Justice Seeker vs. Sinner Winner
Two realities confront us a Christians. The first is that, as loving members of our own communities, it is unthinkable that we do not do all that is in our…
Do the New Testament Writer’s Care About Context, Part 4: The Shape of Biblical References
We’ve been considering the claim that Matthew’s appeal to YHWH’s historical deliverance of Israel from Egypt in Hosea 11:1 is proof positive that the NT writers cared little to nothing…
An Unwelcomed Gift
Consequences, pain, suffering and loss are unwelcomed gifts from a loving creator to wayward creatures. Only discomfiture of one kind or another drives change. Only a sense of dissatisfaction with…
Spirituality is Not a Personality Trait
I’ve had some interesting discussions this week about various churches’ perception of “Spirituality, Love & Humility,” My ministry is non-denominational and I travel around a bit so I encounter all…
Do the New Testament Writer’s Care About Context, Part 3: What is This Guy Doing?
In this series we are laying the ground work for analyzing the common suggestion that Matthew 2:15 proves that the New Testament writers don’t care about the original context of…
Do the New Testament Writer’s Care About Context, Part 2: Pinpoint Quotation and the Importance of Original Context
In part 1 of this series I introduced the common accusation that Matthew 2:15 proves that the New Testament writers don’t care about context. Matthew takes a text that was…
Stop the Madness: Equality of Outcome as the New and ONLY Morality
What you are about to read is real. These are not actors, but are the actual opinions of the people who are expressing them. No, seriously, I couldn’t make these…
Do the New Testament Writers Care about Context, Part 1: Fulfillment Issues in Matthew 2:15
Matthew 2:15 is one of those passages that bothered me a lot when I was a young Bible college student. After reading the original passage from which this “fulfillment” was…
So, Two Arrogant Punks Walk Up to a Seasoned Professor in Church: Youth, Respect & Ageism
I had an over the top experience in a congregation yesterday after preaching a message on a Biblical Theology of Holiness, called “Whole Life Holiness.” I have grown accustomed to…
Eight is Enough: Entrapment Rhetoric in The 1st Prophetic Sermon of Amos
We have invited Melodie Sargent, a student at Northpoint Bible college, back again to deliver another blog post. This time her attention is turned the importance of rhetorical structure in…
Can They Make Glasses for This? Myoptic Visions and Human Limitation
Myopic visions of reality are a basic human trait. The mind is incapable of tracking enough information for a person to see everything, to know everything, to anticipate the effects…
The Idolatry of the Modern Mind
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…