Perspectives on Paul 10-28-30
I recorded this on 10-21-30 because of the approach of Hurricane Zeta on the evening of the 28th. Video PowerPoint This is an embedded Microsoft Office presentation, powered by Office. PDF
Perspectives on Paul for 10-21-20
I’m a bit behind posting these, but here are the files from the last Perspectives video. Note we will be continuing the discussion this coming week, as I only completed about half of what I had planned. The key theme text will be Jeremiah 31:31-34. Remember that a good deal of the material I’m covering…
Prophecy and All Believers
We had an interesting discussion today in Sunday School. We were discussing the 3rd chapter of my book When People Speak for God, titled Messengers – God and Prophet. The questions at hand were just what is prophecy, who are God’s messengers (with a side-order of how can you tell) and how does getting a…
Of Contexts, Communities, and Individuals
Stop Taking Jeremiah 29:11 Out of Context is the headline in RELEVANT magazine. Thomas Turner is writing vigorously about the apparently shameful misuse of this passage of scripture. He points out that it’s used on graduation cards and often quoted in words of encouragement to individuals. He summarizes: Sure, it might make a person feel…
Interactive Covenants and Prophecies or God Has a Plan B
It’s interesting to me how we (and I definitely include myself) often read scripture. One concept can easily override another. For example, I recall a conversation in which someone was claiming that no human being was ever righteous. I brought up Job, who is described as righteous in Job 1. “Oh, but that is only…
Christmas 2A – Celebrating Redemption
That’s a pretty obvious theme, but it would seem even more odd to skip it! The second Sunday in Christmas is a good day to commemorate these events. There are a few different items that strike me here. The connection of the return from exile with the redemptive mission of Jesus. This shouldn’t be surprising,…
Appealing to Grace
While there is much violence in the Old Testament (and a certain amount in the New), the basic ideas of grace are still expressed regularly. Nowhere is this clearer, in my opinion, than in the appeal to salvation history in passages of judgment and of exhortation. The Old Testament passage and the Psalm for Proper…
The Jonah Problem Redux
Bruce Alderman wrote an interesting post today on what has to be somewhere close to my favorite book of the Bible–Jonah. He referenced an earlier post of mine from my Threads blog, but I’m not really commenting on that part. I should also note that while I call Jonah somewhere close to my favorite book,…
Another Jeremiah
I recalled Micaiah before I thought of Jeremiah in this case, even though Dr. Jeremiah Wright shares the great prophet’s name. Micaiah is the prophet of who never prophesied anything good about Ahab (1 Kings 22). Jeremiah, on the other hand, was definitely an anti-patriot. Very little that he said was appreciated by the hierarchy…
Healing and Restoration from Jeremiah 32
Thomas Durst has a nice, short, devotional post drawn from Jeremiah 32:36-44, which he quotes from The Message. It’s titled Healing and Restoration.