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American Culture

The Affections of Asbury

Over the past few days, quite the event has developed at Asbury University down in Wilmore, Kentucky. University students have appeared at the Hughes Auditorium to worship and sing praises to God, which has continued for over 90 hours at the time of this writing. There is recent reporting that…

by Charles JacobiFebruary 16, 2023
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Apostle Paul

Paul and Nero

It is well-enough known that Nero was emperor from AD 54 when he was just 16 until his death as a young man of 30 in AD 68, just 14 years later. Paul ministered during most of those 14 years (we are not sure which year he died), accomplishing 3…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 14, 2023
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Apostle Paul

For Me to Live is Christ!

When the apostle Paul says, “For me to live is Christ!” (Philippians 1:21), we do not find it difficult to understand. Paul had been a faithful servant of Christ from the time that Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus (AD 30) and through Ananias told Paul that he…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 9, 2023
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Song of Songs

Bridal Song

I think there’s a layer to the Song of Songs which has been largely unexamined. The Song is about Christ and his church, Yahweh and Israel, the nature of the marriage covenant, and the marriage of the couple in the Song. But while the Song is “of Solomon” (or to…

by Daniel StanleyFebruary 8, 2023
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Biblical Studies

Paul and the Praetorian Guard

In Philippians 1:12-13, Paul informs his beloved brothers in Philippi that his Roman imprisonment — which one would naturally think hindered his ministry and the preaching of the Gospel — actually resulted in the surprising and wonderful progress of the Gospel. Of course, from our perspective 2000 years later and…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 2, 2023
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Biblical Theology

Abraham’s Seed: Heavens, Earth, and Sea Made New

In a recent post , I explored the threefold order of creation—heavens, earth, and sea—and suggested that in Genesis 1 God stamps heaven’s order, his own threefold nature, on the creation, giving earth a trinitarian shape. So what happens to the three-level architecture of creation after Genesis 1? We don’t…

by Josh JensenFebruary 1, 2023

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Philosophy

Selfless power

David Hart notes, in a discussion of Derrida and Milbank on gift, that “absolute ‘selfless’ gratuity, which will not submit to reciprocation, is pure power; but interested exchange - even though sin inevitably corrupts all exchange with the shadow of coercion and greed - is not simply an economy over…

August 31, 2009

Matthew 25

In my sermon notes from last week, I took the position that Jesus makes a transition in verse 14 to talking about a final judgment, and the time between Jesus’ ascension and the end of this creation. Two details hint that Jesus has changed theme. First, 25:13 matches 24:42, and…

August 31, 2009

Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION The three parables in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse all emphasize that Jesus assesses His disciples according to their performance. The judgment scene at the end of Matthew 25 makes the same point: The ones who enter life are the ones who have acted righteously toward the least of Jesus’ brothers.…

August 31, 2009

Eucharistic meditation

Matthew 25:21: His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your lord. The master in the parable of the talents distributes talents based on ability right…

August 30, 2009

Baptismal meditation

Matthew 25:3-4: The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil…

August 30, 2009

Exhortation

“Repent the day before you die,” the Rabbis said. It sounds as if they’re encouraging wickedness. We can do what we like, sin to our heart’s content, and then reverse it all with a deathbed conversion. But the Rabbis were sly. The kicker is that we can never know the…

August 30, 2009

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