Jesus
A Brief Theology of the Trinity
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Trinity
“The economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity, and the immanent Trinity is the economic Trinity.” This is the maxim introduced by the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner that should shape our discussion of the Trinity. It…
The Destiny of God’s People
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom of God, Peace, Racial Reconciliation, Unity, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Following Jesus
Jesus represents the realization of God’s glorious dream for humanity. In Christ, we see what we who are in Christ are destined to be. As a stick placed in a river is destined to be…
The Incarnation: More Than a Rescue Mission
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Blueprint Worldview, Incarnation, Jesus, Open Theism, Redemption, Salvation
Topics: Atonement and The Cross
A mistake people often make concerning the Incarnation is that they fail to distinguish the eternal plan of God to unite himself with humanity in Christ, on the one hand, from the atoning significance this…
How God Changes the World
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Love, Unity
Verse: John 17
God’s hopes for us began before the creation of the world. And what God intended from the beginning gives us insight into how God works to bring about what he intends. In the first chapter…
Why Racial Reconciliation Matters
Category: General
Tags: Good News, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Kingdom of God, Racial Reconciliation, Unity
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
In Psalm 72, the author prays for a day when “all kings” would “bow down” to God’s anointed and when “all nations” would “serve him” (vs. 11). At this time, the Psalmist continues, God’s king…
Lies, Truth, and the Holy Spirit
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom Living, Lies, The Holy Spirit, Truth
The root of the flesh is a lie about who God is and who we are. Satan brings us into bondage of the flesh by convincing us that God is not the loving God he…
Jesus’ Different Kind of Nation
Category: General
Tags: Blessing, Israel, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Nationalism, New Humanity
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
God called Abraham to form a unique nation by which “all peoples of the earth will be blessed.” The unique call of the descendants of Abraham was to become a nation of servant-priests whom God…
Q&A: Condemning Sin
Category: Q&A
Tags: Discernment, Jesus, Judgment, Love, Sin
Topics: Sin
Q: I have a question about how you answer the rare occasions when Jesus apparently felt it necessary to publicly condemn sin: like the cleansing of the temple and his very strong judgments on Pharisees…
God’s Favor, Not Vengeance
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Forgiveness, Jesus, Justice, Love
Topics: Following Jesus
Jesus began his ministry with a brief sermon in his hometown synagogue. Quoting Isaiah 61, Jesus said, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to…
Revolting Against Classism
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom Living, Kingdom Revolution, Love
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
All fallen societies and religions have a tendency to rank people according to class. All have ways of separating the insiders from the outsiders, the holy from the unholy and the more important people from…
Nothing but Christ Crucified
Category: General
Tags: Cross, Good News, Identity in Christ, Jesus
One of the most remarkable expressions of the all-encompassing nature of the cross is reflected in an incidental, but extremely important, comment that Paul made in his First Letter to the Corinthians. He noted that…
Christ the Center
Category: General
Tags: Authority, Belief, Bible, Faith, Jesus
Topics: Faith & Doubt
The center of the Christian faith is not anything we believe; it’s the person of Jesus Christ. The foundation of my faith is a person, not a book and a set of beliefs about that…
Friday Lights: Sibling Rivalry
Category: Lighten Up
Tags: Friday Lights, Humor, Jesus, Michael Jr.
Each Friday we post content sent to us by our readers that is inspiring, funny, lighthearted or just generally fun. If you’d like more information on submitting content for this feature you can get more information here….
The Final Battle in Revelation
Category: General
Tags: Book of Revelation, Eschatology, Jesus, Non-Violence, Spiritual Warfare
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
I will conclude this series on the violent imagery in Revelation by addressing the infamous eschatological battle scene found in 19:11-21, for it is this graphically violent section of Revelation that is most frequently appealed…
God’s Kind of Holy War
Category: General
Tags: Book of Revelation, Jesus, Lamb of God, Self-Sacrificial Love, Spiritual Warfare
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
This is part three of a series on Revelation. You can find part one here and part two here. While there will come a day when the sacrificial victory of the Lamb and of his…
The Key to Understanding Revelation
Category: General
Tags: Book of Revelation, End Times, Jesus, Violence
Topics: Biblical Interpretation
The most important key to interpreting John’s violent imagery is found in the heavenly throne room scene in chapters 4-5. (For the first entry in this series on the violence in Revelation, click here.) This…
Unpacking Revelation: Is it Literal?
Category: General
Tags: Bible Interpretation, Book of Revelation, Jesus, Violence
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, End Times
According to many scholars as well as many Christian laypeople, the Jesus we find in the book of Revelation engages in a great deal of violence. This violence reaches a zenith in chapter 19 where…
Our True Eternal Home
Category: General
Tags: Discipleship, Identity in Christ, Jesus
Topics: Following Jesus
In becoming our sin and bearing the death-consequences of sin, Christ has opened the way for us to participate in the fellowship of the triune God. Because of the cross, we are now free to…
What Jesus Revealed About Being Human
Category: General
Tags: Cross, Jesus, Love, Salvation, Sin
According to the creation story, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they essentially ceased being the wonderful, God-centered, God-dependent human beings the Creator intended them to be. They became less than fully human. Instead,…
