Beastly Attributes
Summarizing attributes of the assembly of dragons and beasts in Revelation 12 & 13.
YouVersion Verse of the Year
I received an email from YouVersion (I use their app occasionally) with their 2023 “verse of the year.” This is the verse that has been shared, bookmarked, and highlighted most often through their community. It is Isaiah 41:10 (note that my links go to BibleGateway): [D]o not fear, for I am with you; do not be…
Signs That You Won’t Know!
It is critical to note that the signs Jesus’ gives his disciples are general and vague and always contemporary. War and suffering, famine and earthquakes, persecutions and false Messiahs have not only been prevalent throughout history; they are the also to be witnessed and experienced in the present, and they will be encountered in the…
What Is the Bible For?
No, this is not a long dissertation on scripture and its various uses, though I love to talk about that. For many, the purpose of scripture is to keep us on a doctrinally correct path. It tells us the things we are supposed to believe. Simply believing correctly is what’s important. For me, however, a…
On Teaching from Ezekiel 24
I’ve been working my way through Ezekiel with my Sunday School class, at their request, since I have frequently said that Leviticus, Ezekiel, and Hebrews are the books most formative of my own theology. When this is done, I will have been through all three books with this group. One major difficulty in teaching through…
After Teaching on the Sermon on the Mount
My Sunday School class just finished a several-week study on the Sermon on the Mount. We did not use any study guides as a class, though I consulted three books I publish, One World: The Lord’s Prayer from a Process Perspective, The Jesus Manifesto: A Participatory Study Guide to the Sermon on the Mount, and…
The Wrath of the Lamb
Sometimes the process of preparing to teach Sunday School takes interesting turns, at least for me. I’m currently teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, and I was thinking about the transition from the beatitudes to the discussion of fulfilling the law. Sometimes we get so used to the way Scripture passages read that we…
Link: On the Participles of Hebrews 6:4-6
Via Dave Black, I found this post, which outlines the participles of this passage well. I have expressed my view on this passage previously, and it takes the participles into account and aligns with one of the positions suggested.
A God Without Wrath
… a God without wrath does not plan to do much liberating. Indeed, that God’s anger is kindled when harm is done to the least among us not only gives us hope that earthly injustices don’t have the last word but also insight into God’s compassionate nature. Deanna Thompson, Deuteronomy (Belief: a Theological Cimmentary on…
Review: Grace & Truth Study Bible
This review is of a Bible I received as a #BibleGatewayPartner. When I set out to review a Bible, I find it difficult to determine precisely what I should discuss. There is the translation it is based on, the nature and extent of the notes, the theological positions that drive those notes, and elements of…