The problem with sin is not “because God said so.” Sin is a cancerous force which seeks to destroy all that is good, true and beautiful, leaving the wreckage of alienation and death in the wake of its violence.
In his Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, Jonathan Edwards describes one of [...]
When Jesus rose from the dead, splendor returned to the world. From the depths of death’s dark gloom, Jesus emerged triumphant and the light of new life shone out permeating the entire earth. God’s redemptive purpose to not abandon the earth to its decay, death and misery, but to restore, renew and indeed re-create it [...]
If you were to summarize the overarching story-line of the Bible, what would you say? What if you had to do it in only one sentence? I will attempt to do exactly this in only seven words and I have a hunch my conclusion will be somewhat surprising to many.
But before I divulge my answer, [...]
The central Biblical text I look to for understanding the “spirit of prayer” is Romans 8. In verses 19 and following, the entire creation is depicted as convulsing under the pains of travail, longing for freedom from the bondage of decay and death. All that lives remains under the domination of eventual decay, death and [...]
Any discussion of how Christianity relates to other religions must first begin with a clear and concrete articulation of what Christianity is centrally about. Much discussion on religious pluralism assumes or posits a universal notion of what is “central” to religions (a norm to which Christianity conforms) or that the content of Christianity is flexible (that which does not conform to the “center” is shed)…
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and [...]
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the spirit of the LORD, or as [...]
Discussion of the doctrine of creation in Christian theology often centers around a few loci. In fundamentalist circles, it at times revolves around the creation-evolution or the young-earth/old-earth debates. Others, having reconciled with Darwin, explain the contributions of evolutionary thought to the understanding of God and the world. In much contemporary theology, the doctrine [...]
In the first part of this series I discussed my desire to take some time in this Pentecost season to give extended reflection to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In this post, I would like to back track a little and simply give some general thoughts on the path I would like [...]
Following my last post concerning Pentecost, I want to spend some of this season following Pentecost offering meditations on the Holy Spirit. Specifically, the direction I want to go is developing a spirituality and an understanding of life in the Spirit that accords with the primary event of Christian faith, the resurrection of Jesus from [...]
