Back to the Basics
A couple of weeks ago I asked our 20s & 30s what kinds of things are roadblocks to them asking their friends to attend Bible class and the assembly. One main thing came to light that may be true of people where you live as well. They said our Bible classes and sermons assume people […]
Erasing Hell by Francis Chan is Now Available for Pre-Order
Pre-orders are now open at amazon for Francis Chan’s new book Erasing Hell: What God Says About Eternity and the Things We Made Up. I guess I am a little surprised by the subtitle as some are viewing this book as some sort of response to Rob Bell. I can only guess that what he […]
The Importance of Theological Tension – The Beauty of Balance
Many things are best learned when two seemingly opposing points are held in honest and transparent tension with one another. Take the grace and works. In Eph 2:8-9 Paul tells us we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Then in the very next verse he informs us that our grace-filled salvation should […]
Review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Part 4)
Chapter 2: Here is the New There This chapter had a lot more going for it than chapter one. There were a lot more moments I was in total agreement with him than I had been in the preface and in chapter one. I really like the point he was making that heaven really isn’t […]
Review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Part 3)
Chapter 1: What About the Flat Tire? It seems to me the purpose of this chapter is to deconstruct as many things as possible and leave the reader pretty discombobulated. Maybe that is because that is where many people already are and he is trying to resonate with people who have some of these same […]
Review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins (Part 2)
Bell begins Love Wins by laying out some common ground with some thoughts few would disagree with, “First, I believe that Jesus’ story is first and foremost about the love of God for every single one of us. It is a stunning, beautiful, expansive love, and it is for everybody, everywhere.” (p. vii) Next, he […]
Grace in the Parables – The Wedding Banquet
The last parable mentioned here was that grace means we don’t always get what we deserve. A few chapters later (Matthew 22), upon entering Jerusalem Jesus tells a parable about a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. All the people you might expect to be there turned him down. So he sent […]
Exodus Came Before Sinai
When I was a kid I remember learning about the ten commandments. When we studied the ten commandments we always started with Exodus 20:3, “You will have no other gods before me.” We never started back a verse where God said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of […]
2010 NIV and “Confess”
Here is the breakdown of the 2010 NIV vs the NASB on “Confess” or “Confession”. All instances below (except for the one noted) are from the Greek word ομολογεω which can mean a variety of things but typically involves agreeing on the truthfuless of something sometimes with a public acknowledgement (BDAG, 708). I selected the […]
Desiring God
When I desire something two things happen. First I figure out how to get what it is I desire. Second I take action. When we think about our desire for God is it strong to figure out how God fits into our lives and move us to take action to make it happen? Do we […]