Thoughts on the End of the World
Today is supposed to be the day that the world ends, according to self-appointed prophesy expert Harold Camping. Of course, Jesus was very explicit that no one would be able to do this in Matthew 24:36. (A local pastor, Stu Kerns, had a great interview on the radio on this topic, which you can listen [...]
Three Glorious Days, Part II: The Sabbath of Holy Saturday
Of Holy Saturday–the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday–little is written. In Mark’s account of the Three Glorious Days, we only read that Friday had been the Day of Preparation for the Sabbath, and then the narrative jumps straightaway into Easter Sunday. We only get this passing comment concerning Holy Saturday: “When the Sabbath [...]
Confessing This Jesus-Christ-Come-In-Flesh Jesus
After John urges his beloved readers to “test the spirits” in 1 John 4:1, he reveals the specific truth he wishes them to embrace, and the specific error to avoid: 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every [...]
Reforming the Lives of Wanton Libertines (Like Me)
In 1 John 2:1-6, John turns his attention from Pharisaical hypocrites to wanton libertines: And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps [...]
How can God be faithful, but still just?
Ever since AWANA, when I memorized “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), this verse has been an important part of my understanding of the gospel. God forgives us when we confess our sins to him. This [...]
God is Light, and in Him is no Darkness Whatsoever
In 1 John 1:5-2:6, the Apostle John writes about sin, faithful living, our Advocate in Jesus Christ the Righteous, forgiveness, cleansing from sin, and obeying God’s commandments. In some ways, this section is a primer on practical Christianity–what does it actually look like to become a baptized member of Christ’s church? Everything, though, that John [...]
The fear of Jesus
Mark weaves a magnificent and profound play on words in the last few verses of his account of Jesus’ calming the storm: And he [Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you [...]
Ezekiel’s Dry Bones and the Christian Doctrine of Bodily Resurrection
Christian exegetes have wrestled with the connection of Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones and the doctrine of the bodily resurrection since they first preached on Ezekiel 37 from the light of Christ’s own bodily resurrection. While early exegetes drew a very quick line from the resuscitation of the bones to our own bodily resurrection, some [...]
Wives, Wells, and Jesus
Isaac, Jacob, and Moses all find their wives through interactions at a well. The parallels are fascinating: So that Isaac does not marry one of “the daughters of the Canaanites, (Gen. 24:3), Abraham sends out his servant to find Isaac a wife, and the servant prays that he would recognize the right woman by her [...]
More light on the Word and Spirit from Berkhof
This post is a continuation of On the Efficacy of the Sacraments and Word, Spirit, and Dry Bones, in which I have been trying to get my head around the differences between Lutheran and Reformed understandings of the relationship between the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the sacraments. Louis Berkhof’s explanation sheds more [...]
keep looking »