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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Grace

Never Be Dismayed

I'm afraid of messing up. Not just of messing up in general, but of messing this up—the big This that is the story that is my life, the story that God is attempting to tell with me as His material. The question casts its shadow over all my decisions. Can…

by Leta SundetOctober 6, 2015
jesus-with-sword
Revelation

Greater Phinehas

Jesus’ letter to Pergamum mentions Balaam and Balak (Revelation 2:14), and that is a signal that the whole message is running along the lines of Numbers 22-25. The death of the high priest is a sacrificial moment in the life of Israel. According to the rules of the cities of…

by Peter LeithartOctober 1, 2015
marriage
Marriage

The Glory of Self-Giving: A Wedding Homily

As you come to be joined in marriage today, I want to take a moment to focus on one important dimension of what it means to be married as Christians: that is as those who know Jesus and are being made into His likeness. This is a glorious day, full…

by Joshua AppelSeptember 29, 2015
jesus-centurion
Authority

Authority and Faith

When Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, saying, “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.” Jesus saith unto him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest…

by Lindsey TollefsonSeptember 24, 2015
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Genesis

The Two Shall Become One Flesh: A Wedding Homily

Philosophers have measured mountains, Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings, Walk'd with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains But there are two vast, spacious things, The which to measure it doth more behove: Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love. The Agonie –…

by Joshua AppelSeptember 22, 2015
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Luke

Of Sandals and Heroes

The third chapter of Luke famously opens with a list of mighty men, seven mighty men, potential heroes of the Mediterranean world. Beginning with Tiberius Caesar and Pontius Pilate, passing on to Herod the Tetrarch and his brothers, and ending with two High Priests, Luke says that the word of…

by Toby SumpterSeptember 17, 2015

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Gnats and camels

Duncan Derrett again: Jesus condemns the Pharisees and scribes as “blind men,” and their blindness is a myopia that makes it impossible for them to distinguish between gnats and camels. Both are prohibited foods, but “their throats are wide, their bellies capacious for the unclean.” For all their their obsession…

May 2, 2009

Unclean vessels

Duncan Derrett points to the OT background to Jesus’ saying about unclean vessels. According to the law, a vessel was rendered unclean in the interior when an animal dropped into the vessel. Some vessels could be scrubbed clean, others had to be broken (Leviticus 11). A vessel became clean when…

May 2, 2009

Apostasy

For a number of years, I’ve been using the analogy of marriage to explain apostasy. Turns out I wasn’t the first. Jeremiah does too. Jeremiah uses some variation of the root shub (“turn, return, turn away”) nearly 50 times in his prophecy. One of the specific words is meshubah, translated…

May 1, 2009

Good times

Along with a friend, my son, Jordan, has started an online comic strip. Check it out here every Tuesday and Thursday: http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com/

May 1, 2009

Proverbs 26:17-19

PROVERBS 26:17 Verse 17 returns to the use of dog imagery. We recall that dogs are scavengers in the Bible, feeding on death. Dogs eat flesh and lap up blood. They are greedy, constantly hungry for more (Isaiah 56:11). They tear things to pieces (Matthew 7:6). In short, they are…

May 1, 2009

Blood and Soil again

Mike Bull from Australia sends along some comments on my earlier posts about “blood and soil.” The rest of this post is from Mike: “Jesus doesn’t just overcome and send the powers packing. But also, he doesn’t just pacify and reconcile them. He tears them in two, like two goats.…

May 1, 2009

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