I know its easy to skip genealogies when reading to Bible. Loads of detail with little yield. Thought this might not be immediately apparent, the genealogies in the Gospels are rich with theological significance. Names such as Judah, Ruth, David, Uzziah, Hezekiah and Josiah that occur in the genealogy would surely have evoked many stories [...]
I am not from Texas. I am not from anywhere remotely in the South. I am a Yankee to the core. Nevertheless, I believe one of the primary deficiencies of the formal English language is the lack of a word like “y’all.”
The Greek language (like many languages) has (at least) two forms of the word [...]
It is not so much sin that plunges us into disaster, as rather despair (John Chrysostom)
Revelation 21:7-8 – “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8But as for the cowardly (timid, fearful), the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, [...]
Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptised; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.
John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan [...]
Inspired by 2 Cor. 4:6, Acts 4:2 and Rom. 1:16:
Almighty and Everlasting God, who caused the light of your glory to shine forth in the face of Jesus Christ, cause the light of your gospel to shine through your servants, that with great boldness they would testify that in Jesus there is the resurrection [...]
Inspired by Isaiah 35 -
O God, who causes the wilderness and the dry land to rejoice, and whose very presence makes the desert blossom and burst into song: let that same power for the restoration of life overflow with compassion through your people, making the bodies of those sick well, those injured whole, those impaired [...]
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 [...]
Though resurrection was the central message of the early Apostolic Church and a central theme through the New Testament, resurrection is of such minor note in the Old Testament it cannot even warrant being called a theme. It only is literally discussed in two passages. If resurrection is not even a theme in the Old [...]
“Being in Christ” is not simply an opportunity for a fresh start or a new chance to get things right (as great as that is). Being in the Messiah means that one is a participant in the eschatological life of the restored and renewed heavens and earth even now.
I’ve decided to write a prayer for each of my “New Creation…Starting Now” posts. We’ll see how it goes…
Creator God, who is ever faithful to finish the work he started: so now continue through us the great harvest of new creation and expand through us the renewed humanity of reconciliation, that we might share with [...]
