Latest Posts
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Relearning How to Follow Jesus
Read more: Relearning How to Follow JesusWhen I first came to the mission field I spoke with a teammate who told me about a man named Mamadou who I would meet shortly. He told me, “Mamadou is a Muslim background believer from Africa. And just so you know, he fasts more than he eats.” When my teammate relayed this information to…
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Dealing with Disappointment Daddy Style
Read more: Dealing with Disappointment Daddy StyleI recently faced a Dad-moment that I had been dreading for a while. It’s one of those times where your son faces his first major disappointment in life. So far my oldest son Ethan had led a somewhat charmed existence. He’s the one that: wins the giant Lego set in the church raffle, gets picked…
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Entertaining Thoughts
Read more: Entertaining ThoughtsWhen my brother entered our house last Thursday night, he was impressed. Our house was clean. Not just tidy, but actually clean. We scrubbed, dusted, de-cluttered, de-catted, even steam-mopped. Yeah. That happened. Our preparation for his long-distance girlfriend’s arrival was intentional and meticulous. We spent several hours a day for three days cleaning as much…
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I’m Actually an Ambivert: Shedding my Introvert Skin
Read more: I’m Actually an Ambivert: Shedding my Introvert SkinToday I discovered a mind-blowing realization about being an ambivert. No, it’s not related to some kind of slimy animal, but it’s about a personality type. I started writing this blog post, thinking about survival strategies for introverts in large group settings. Since I’ve labeled myself as an introvert for awhile, after taking the Myers-Briggs…
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Review of Jesus Research, ed. James H. Charlesworth
Read more: Review of Jesus Research, ed. James H. CharlesworthEdited by James H. Charlesworth; with Brian Rhea and Petr Pokorný. Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perception. Eerdmans, 2014. 1053 pgs. $35.00 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-8028-6728-5. The recently released compendium, Jesus Research (2014), is a collection of papers originally presented at the Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research (2007). The volume combines the insights of at…
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The Christian and Comedy- Part 2
Read more: The Christian and Comedy- Part 2Two weeks ago, in our discussion of humor, we determined that the dictionary resources identify surprise or outrageous “over-the-top” situations as the underlying aspect of what makes something humorous. However, there is another branch of comedy, called observational comedy, that earns our snickers by operating on the axiom- “it’s funny because it’s true!” Observational commentary,…
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Social Security: To Opt Out or Not to Opt Out?
Read more: Social Security: To Opt Out or Not to Opt Out?On the internet over the past few years, Christian leaders have taken time to voice their opinion about IRS form 4361 (Russell Moore, Gospel Coalition via Justin Taylor, Matt Wittmer and Dave Ramsey have all spoken on the matter). For those unfamiliar, form 4361 is the form that a minister may sign within his first…
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Most Influential Commentaries on Galatians (Top 5)
Read more: Most Influential Commentaries on Galatians (Top 5)A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the Top Galatians Commentaries. For that list I chose the 5 best in terms of teaching the text the closest to how I think it should be understood. I still stand by those 5—although with the recent addition of Doug Moo’s commentary I think…
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Review of Union with Christ in the New Testament by Grant Macaskill
Read more: Review of Union with Christ in the New Testament by Grant MacaskillMacaskill, Grant. Union with Christ in the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. 308 pages + 45 pages bibliography and indices. Hardcover. Retail: £75.00 ISBN: 978-0199684298. Long a pillar of Eastern Orthodox theology, theosis has been generating increasing interest across denominational lines in recent years. In Union with Christ in the New Testament, Grant…
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How Not to Evangelize
Read more: How Not to EvangelizeA few weeks ago my wife and I sat through a 2 hour Timeshare presentation in the hopes of getting a free trip to Hawaii. We went in determined not to sign up for for anything and to get as much free stuff as possible. I personally went in skeptical, feeling sensitive to the different…