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Writing

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

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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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Baptismal meditation

3 John 2, 11: Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not…

February 25, 2007

Exhortation, First Sunday of Lent

This is the first Sunday in the traditional season of Lent, and as we enter this season we’ve made some changes in the liturgy. We will not be raising our hands, and we will say rather than sing some of the dialogue between the pastor and congregation. Several of the…

February 25, 2007
Theology

Wedding Sermon

A few minutes ago, you each answered a question I posed to you. I asked you if you would take her as your wife, and whether you would pledge yourself to her as her husband. I asked you whether you would take him as your husband to love and honor…

February 24, 2007
Theology

Eschatological meaning

Thanks to my student Larson Hicks for the substance of this post. Until a command is fully carried out, we don’t have a complete grasp of what the command means or requires of us. “Take Normandy Beach,” solider are told, but that order demands courageous charges, sacrificial death, skillful feints,…

February 24, 2007

Stripping the year

Much as I admire the Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians, I believe they erred when they stripped the church calendar to an annual cycle of fifty-two Sundays. They reduced the rich melody of the earlier calendar to a repetitive ticking of the clock. But the problem actually goes deeper. Israel’s festive…

February 24, 2007

Stripping the flesh

Paul appears to be describing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in Colossians 2:11-12. The “stripping of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” refers to the crucifixion of Jesus, which fulfills what the rite of circumcision symbolized - the removal of flesh. What is this…

February 22, 2007

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