If you are determined not to subject yourself to all those insensitive jerks at church this Mother’s day, who show no regard for your loss, infertility, pre-mother status, or some special case relationship that you have that you think qualifies you to stand for Motherly recognition, but fear...
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May 6, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
It is often the case that in a misguided attempt to combat one thing, human beings inadvertently destroy something else… or cause the very thing they seek to avert. It’s the natural result of being short-sighted, selfish, and prone to seek the path of least resistance. Nobody is...
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May 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
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I wanted to share a letter I received from a woman named, Jessica. She wrote to honor her kind and forgiving husband, who has been so instrumental in her own journey of restoration. It warmed my heart. I particularly love Joseph’s story at the end. Read all the...
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May 4, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
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Last year, a dear friend shared a link to an article called “An Open Letter to Pastors (A Non-Mom Speaks about Mother’s Day).”[1] Its main goal is to wrap Pastors’ heads around how hurtful Mother’s Day can be for so many women whose personal relationship to Mother’s Day...
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May 3, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
In my recent post, “A Meditation on “My Wife Has Tattoos: Marriage, New Birth and The Gospel,” I sought to counter what I perceived a certain naiveté. As the father of four and one who has done pre-marital counseling, I thought this article needed a little wisdom and...
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May 2, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
Even though I specialize in Old Testament Studies and interpretive methodology, I still find certain areas of study quite difficult to unravel. The world of the Old Testament has many secrets that the millennia have yet to whisper into our modern ears. The exact meaning of much...
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April 29, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
This is a sensitive post for me today. I want to respond to another Christian blogger’s post. Unfortunately, by doing so, I set myself up to look bad, to look like a big meanie who poo-poos a post meant to be loving and honoring. I set myself up...
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April 27, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
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Today we have a guest Blogger. John Donnelly, Biblical Literacy Ministries Educator, Church Planter, Part-year missionary to India. John has a Master’s in Old Testament Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Masters degree in New Testament studies from the same. So here he is on “The Unseemly Assumptions about...
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April 25, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
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It is a complex world with complex problems. The desire for sure answers and ethical certainty in my own religious community has not, however, historically, driven them to examine issues, nor to contemplate the methods and principles by which one might do so. It has, rather, driven them...
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April 22, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
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Okay, so let’s get one thing straight; covenant is a genre. In fact, covenant is a genre with several sub-genres. (I’ll discuss sub-genres in another post.) This means that covenant has recognizable forms that developed in history through human interaction and communication in particular places among particular people.[1]...
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April 20, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
Joseph Bonham, M.A. is today’s guest blogger. Joseph has his own blog called the Biblical Bean, linked below. In addition to a Bachelors in Biblical Studies, he holds a master of arts from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Biblical Languages / Hebrew Bible. ·He has agreed to address a question I...
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April 18, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Meeting the Jesus of Mark
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Those of us who do their best to follow the happenings on the political front are no strangers to the name Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City. Some are sympathetic to his many causes and others, like myself, are openly antagonistic to them—Not, as he and...
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April 15, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
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We’ve been discussing some important points about Covenant both in Scripture and in the ancient world. So, if you’ve been following my string of posts on Covenant, here are our facts so far: Today, I’d like to add a 6th element to this list. So here goes: 6....
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April 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Old Testament Studies
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I can hardly believe that we are, today, having to argue FOR the right of young girls to use public restrooms, gym changing rooms and school showers without having their sense of safety, modesty, and morality assaulted by the forced presence of emotionally and mentally confused men. That, however,...
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April 11, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
No Comment
Since we live in a contractual world, not a covenantal world, a crash course in biblical era covenant cutting is in order. Now, don’t get me wrong, we still have the tattered remnants of covenant-making in our modern western societies, but it mostly resembles the scattered debris of...
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April 11, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Theology, Old Testament Studies
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Guess what. You are already dead… you just haven’t stop moving around yet. You might finish your life’s journey today or a year from now, or 100 years from now, but you are already a “Dead Man Walking.” This is an important fact to know. Once you fully...
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April 8, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
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Some Scriptures cause me pain, especially when held in tension with others… seemingly conflicting ideas pulling at the soul, demanding wisdom… and let’s face it, wisdom can be exhausting. It’s so much easier to either throw caution to the wind or to develop a strict moral code in...
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March 11, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
John 14:13 says “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do…” I have to admit, I find this very exciting… No, dizzying! A Jet Ski! I’ve always wanted a Jet Ski and a house by a lake so that I can ride it around whenever I...
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March 9, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies
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Some words require a serious amount of cultural packaging to define… (A Technical Term is not just a different Word; it’s a different World.) …such as our past discussion on the importance of Ancient Near Eastern war runners for understanding the meaning of Gospel.[1] Other words, however, give...
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March 7, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Theology, Communication, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies
Words have a lot more than just a definition. Words have associations. Words have rich emotional content. That emotional content is a powerful tool in communication. Choosing the right word at the right time can take a sentence from blah to TADAH!!!! And just to prove that I...
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March 4, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Communication, Society
