J.M.W. Turner, Throwing Overboard the Dying and the Dead
Holy God,
our lives are laid open before you;
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son
bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen.
Almighty Father,
we languish as lost children in a world forlorn,
finding it hard to trust anything or anyone.
By your [...]
In his gospel, Luke tells us that as Jesus was on the way to Golgotha, a number of women followed Jesus mourning and wailing for him. Remarkably, he turns to them, saying “do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Lk. 23.28). I find it amazing that as Jesus experiences the [...]
An excerpt from “Saved By His Life” – a new paper I am working on:
Understanding of Paul’s soteriology (doctrine of salvation) has usually focused exclusively or almost exclusively on the crucifixion. In the early church, this was understood primarily in terms of the Messiah’s victory over the powers of darkness, as in Colossians 2:15. In [...]
An excerpt from “Saved By His Life” – a new paper I am working on:
Since the Protestant Reformation, “justification by faith” has been the articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae—the article by which the church stands or falls. Stressing the significance of this doctrine, Martin Luther once said,
“[Justification is] the chief article of Christian [...]
In the last entry, I discussed the “theology of glory” and the “theology of the cross” and my difficulty with both. I also mentioned how I feel that the problem is essentially Christological. How do we relate the cross and the resurrection in the person of Jesus himself?
In verse thirty of Luke 24, [...]
A friend recently asked me whether I align myself more with the “theology of the cross” or the “theology of glory.” Not really understanding what he meant by either of those terms, I asked for a clarification. The “theology of the cross,” as he explained it, is an understanding of our life now, primarily understood [...]
In Romans 1, Paul describes himself as being “set apart for the gospel of God.” What is the gospel? Today the word “gospel” has several different meanings in various contexts. Sometimes it is “used to denote a particular sort of religious meeting (a ‘gospel rally’), and as a metaphor for utterly reliable information (‘gospel truth’).” [...]
In Romans 8:32, Paul says that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” This phrase “gave him up” means to deliver, hand over, surrender or betray. Very strong language. I believe that this verse gets [...]
