Bible

If it’s true, as the ancient Tertullian said, that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church,” much seed has been sown on Turkish soil, from the 2 nd -century martyrdom of Polycarp to the massacre of Christian Armenians in 1915 (where 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives). And these are...

Throughout Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the reader understands that it is God alone who gets to determine and pronounce what is good (each of His created days - 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) as well as what is not good (that man should be alone - 2:18). It is for this reason that God put a reminder, a...

Within the early verses of Genesis, we find not only the source of the universe but also the source of every woman’s identity. The story of our first mother, Eve, has much to tell us about the purpose of women on this earth. Imago Dei The first piece of Eve’s identity is the fact that she was made...

In Genesis 1, humanity is created and introduced to us as ‘made in the image of God.’ The description of humanity in Genesis 1 is foundational for the Christian worldview. The moral and ethical implications abound from the single statement than humanity is made in God’s image. In this brief post,...

How important are the first chapters of Genesis to our understanding of the whole of Scripture? What happens to our perspective if we isolate Genesis 1-3 from the rest of God’s Word? Richard Barcellos drops in. He’s written Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ...

It could be argued that the very concept of primary and secondary doctrines is a very Protestant problem, precisely because it comes down to an understanding of interpretive authority. Older writers referred to primary doctrines as dogma, those doctrines which have a definite and decidedly fixed...

Not every doctrinal issue is a matter of heresy versus orthodoxy. In today’s internet fueled climate this first sentence is worth repeating to ourselves. As young growing Christians many of us, myself included, zealously desired to defend Biblical doctrines. Sometimes in our zeal we brought more...

Wilhelmus á Brakel (1635-1711) wrote that “the modulation of our voices at a suitable rhythm is capable of unlocking our hearts and stirring our emotions, God thus willing that we lift up our hearts to Him in singing... However, our voice and the melody in and of themselves are not pleasing to God...

Let me begin with a little thought experiment. Admittedly, some readers will regard it as nothing more than a dark look into a dystopian future. A world worse than the Hunger Games ! Others will regard it as utterly utopian. An immanentizing of the eschaton. What would happen if all the churches of...

A friend of mine, a fellow pastor, spent some time as an ultra-runner. Most runners, who run with any sort of seriousness, seem to knock out a 5k or 10k for fun. Some of those will take some more time to train and get a 1/2 Marathon done. Fewer are those who go the whole 26.2 miles for Marathoner...