Beale on the OT in the NT

Writing in the journal Irish Biblical Studies [Volume 21, November 1999], Greg Beale talks about the use of OT scripture in the NT and says:
I gave the analogy of picking an apple off a tree and making it part of a decorative table arrangement of fruit. The new context does not obliterate the apple’s original [...]

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”
Athaliah killed the entire royal family, or so she thought. There was a baby name Joash, who was taken and hidden in the house of the Lord. He later became king and Athaliah was eventually killed.
How can you not believe in providence? God chose Moses before [...]

Basketball Star Vying for Sole Custody of Pre-Born Baby….but what does it matter if mom can unilaterally murder the baby?

Story is here. Dirk Nowitzki’s girlfriend has some issues…you can read about it. As such, if she is carrying Dirk’s baby, He wants sole custody. While I disagree with lifestyle choices that brought them to this point, I give him props for wanting to raise the child.
I post this because the irony in our law [...]

1 Peter 4:12 “Deal With It (Suffering)”

1 Pt. 4:12 Deal With It (Suffering)
1 Pet. 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Is it just me or does it seem like most believers are perplexed when trials befall them? Do we not try to find [...]

Psalm 137 “When Worship Music Becomes Entertainment”

No, I am not mocking contemporary worship or dealing with the regulative principle or any of that. Instead, I am responding to what Israel’s captors asked of them in Psalm 137:

3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

Babylon is making a mockery [...]

2 Kings 1-2 “Fire From Heaven”

King Ahaziah sent two groups of 50 soldiers to apprehend the lone prophet Elijah and were destroyed by fire that Elijah called down on them. The third group of 50 begged for mercy and Elijah was permitted to go down with him where he subsequently prophesied the King’s death. In 2 Kings 2, the ascension [...]

Congrats to Brian Andrews!!!

Brian, my buddy I met in Rochester, NY, who then got sent to TX, just won secondary teacher of the year!!! Much props are due him. You can read the article here.

Jesus on the Cross = Penal Substitution AND Sanctification

My evening readings were in 1 Pt. 1-2 and there is so much precious truth in it all, however 1 Pt 2:24 sticks out  for me today:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
I [...]

Psalm 136, “His Love Endures Forever”

My afternoon reading today was from Psalm 136. The refrain, “His love endures forever”, occurs in all 26 verses of this Psalm and was recited in responsive fashion before the congregation.
I know that some folks don’t like ‘7-11′ choruses in Church (7 words sung 11 times), and I would be the first to say that [...]

Free Biography on John Calvin

Link here for the free PDF OR go here to purchase a copy.

Ahab and 400 Apostate Prophets

I am reading through the following Bible plan. I read through the OT passage in the morning, the Psalms at midday, and the NT in the evening.  Anyhow, I thought I would offer some brief thoughts on each reading throughout the day.
In 1 Kings 22, we are introduced to the story of the evil king [...]

New Exodus, New Gift, New Restoration, New Zion

Just a few brief thoughts as I continue to engage my studies for Seminary.

- Luke 4 portrays Jesus as the Messiah, leading His people in a ‘new’ Exodus, delivering them from bondage, etc.
- The Gospel of Luke shows how Jesus leads His people to salvation.

- Acts 2 portrays Jesus as the Davidic king and a [...]

N. Korean Quandary

I happen to be half Korean for those who don’t know. My mother came from South Korea when she was a young adult. Though I don’t speak Korean, I have an interest in its affairs. I have also served as an English Pastor at two Korean Churches in my past and have a certain kinship [...]

On the Justice Journey

From Monday through Saturday this week, I will be going to some of the famous civil rights movements sites with about 40 white and black Chicagoans from several different churches.  We hope to learn about the history of the movement and also work on racial reconciliation.  I hope to have some interesting experiences to write [...]

Calvin and Cheney

My friend Rick from Endued sent me an article from Christianity Today that addressed the unitary executive theory advanced by Dick Cheney and others in the Bush Administration, and tried to put it in the perspective of Calvin’s political theory.  Here’s how the author, David Neff, defined the unitary theory:
But one young staffer in the [...]

America’s God, Chapter 6: “Theistic Common Sense”

In Chapter 6 of America’s God, Noll continues in his exploration of how American Christianity became so connected with two streams of thought that were often associated with heresy or liberal theology in Europe: republican political thought and common sense moral philosophy.
Protestants, and especially Reformed (Calvinist) Protestants, had usually embraced an Augustinian view of man: [...]

The marriage of Christianity and republican political theory in America

Noll’s fifth chapter analyzes the American combination of Christianity and republican political ideas, which was a rare combination in the 18th and 19th centuries.  You can see my notes on his previous chapter, where he explained more about this, here.
Noll argues that the most powerful influence in combining Christian beliefs and republican political principles was [...]

Christian orthodoxy and republican ideas: the American puzzle

Noll’s fifth fourth chapter in America’s God describes the unusual agreement between traditional Christians and republican political ideas in late 18-century America.  First, we have to define republican ideology.  Here’s how Noll does it:
American republican language returned constantly to two main themes: fear of abuses from illegitimate power and a nearly messianic belief in the [...]

Jonathan Edwards and the Decline of the Puritan Covenant

In Chapter 3 of America’s God, Noll writes that while Jonathan Edwards ably defended the doctrines of Calvinism in a way that understood the Enlightenment, his conception of the church represented a break with the Puritan ideal.
The Puritan covenant bound society and church under a covenant with God, using biblical Israel as the model.  In [...]

The Roots of American Theology

I’ve finally gotten a chance to begin, for at least the second time, Mark Noll’s America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln.  He’s set out an interesting task for himself: answering the question of how theological ideas in America became so thoroughly integrated with American cultural ideas.  Specifically, he is exploring how evangelical religious [...]

Another perspective on the growth of Chinese Christianity

Chuck Colson’s BreakPoint from yesterday quotes from Pastor Hong Yujian, who argued that the Tiananmen Square crackdown helped the growth of the Church.  This was the key passage for me:
“Many people are beginning to realize that they in themselves have nothing praiseworthy,” Pastor Yujian said. “The end of human efforts is the beginning of God. [...]

Combined Book Review: Evangelism, Racial Reconciliation, and Community Development in Mississippi

John Perkins, Let Justice Roll Down (1976)
John Perkins, With Justice for All (1982)
Dolphus Weary, I Ain’t Comin’ Back (1990, 1997)

On June 15, I’m heading down Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee with members of 9 different Chicagoland churches.  Organized by Willow Creek Community Church, the idea of the “Justice Journey” is to get white and black Christians [...]

Integrating a Christian College

Dolphus Weary describes his predicament in mid-1960s Mississippi in I Ain’t Comin’ Back:
I also developed a vague idea that I wanted to so [sic] something similar to John [Perkins] and the others at the ministry.  I didn’t know what, but I wanted to prepare for it as best I could.  To me that meant finishing [...]

Short Term Missions

Last week, the Desiring God Blog posted on short-term missions throughout the week.  This is the wrap-up with links to their different posts.  The major messages that came through were that those going on short-term missions must have a servant’s attitude, take care that their efforts don’t harm the poor and the local Christian efforts [...]

Perkins on the importance of informed solutions

After John Perkins essentially fought the Mississippi court system to a draw twice, dropping his charges against the local authorities when they promised to drop theirs against him, he believed that the most important part of his experience was informing people about the injustices of police misconduct and brutality:

One of the things for Christian observers [...]

When the church looks irrelevant

From John Perkins’ autobiography Let Justice Roll Down:
You see, in all my years growing up in Mississippi, I had never heard the simple truth of the gospel: the fact that Jesus Christ could set me free and love His life in me.  I grew up knowing nothing about Jesus Christ.
In fact, I had always looked [...]

Paul Tripp: the American dream compromises Christian community

I’m excited that the New Calvinists are challenging the American-evangelical synthesis that blesses the assumptions of American life with religious approval.  At the Desiring God blog, Paul Tripp states it about as strongly and as well as it can be said:
I read a book on stress a few years back, and the author made a [...]

“Coram Deo” Sermon on Psalm 1

6.14.09 Liturgy:
-      Silent heart preparation
-      Opening prayer
-      Worship in song
-      Testimonials, words of exhortation from god’s people
-      Corporate Prayer
-      Teaching: Psalm 1
-      Closing Song

Psalm 1 – “Fruitful Trees vs. Useless Chaff”

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor [...]

A Trip to the Donut Shop Inspires this Post

I just took my kids to the local donut shop. It was their first experience. Next two us was a pair of elderly men who were kind enough to wave at our children and come up to me and express some kind sentiments.
While we were eating our donuts (Apple Fritter, Raised Old Fashioned Chocolate, Chocolate [...]

State vs. family

In a prescient statement, Frederick Engels wrote:
With the transfer of the means of production into common ownership, the single family ceases to be the economic unit of society. Private housekeeping is transformed into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair; society looks after all children alike, whether they [...]