I think the word “revelation” in Paul’s phase “a spirit of wisdom and revelation” trips us up. If I just say that he prayed God would give the churches a “spirit of wisdom” we understand it easier. As I mentioned on Sunday, the idea of...
A common criticism around the world of Americans is that they do not see the global picture. I was told a joke once while visiting another country about a local complaining to an American tourist that American’s are generally unaware of suffering in other countries. The American tourist...
The term “conquered” occurs 53 times in the CSB translation of the Revelation given to John. The Greek root, νικη, transliterates to nike and means “victory.” Look familiar? (If not, watch a sporting event or two.) How about that? Our sports...
We Christians talk a lot about the “great exchange” of substitutionary atonement, and rightfully so. No concept of the gospel is more core than to realize that Jesus took the wrath of God due us and in exchange gave us his own perfect righteousness. But there is another great...
Theology is a massive field of study. There is comparative theology, systematic and biblical theology, and various types of cultural theologies. But theology proper is the study of God himself, his attributes, person, and works. When Christianity speaks of the person of God it reflects the...
I was about twelve when I confessed Christ as Lord. I understood at least something of what that meant, and would for a lifetime learn more of its implications. This confession I made privately. I remember, it was a summer night and I was looking out the window near my top bunk bed. It is not a...
It has been good to see some of our friends returning to church. During the whole Covid ordeal there has been a lot of discussion about “doing church” without “going to church.” Frankly, those are both strange phrases. Biblically speaking, “church” is what we...
So Easter comes to us by way of tradition. There is no mention in the Bible of Easter or of lent. Having said that, some kind of yearly acknowledgement of the resurrection is an ancient church tradition. From what we can tell, observance was varied and different tradition streams developed quite...
Most people think that the work of Charles Darwin merely led the church to reconsider its beliefs about creation and the first three chapters of Genesis. In fact, much more was going on than that. The way we look at history had already been challenged by the German Idealism of the 19th century...