The following is a message I shared in response to several questions regarding the violence of God in the Old Testament. This message was preached at Crossroads Church in Bemidji, MN, Oct. 13, 2019. The title of the message is “The Divine Command: Love Him, Kill Them” (Deuteronomy 7). Click here to listen or download.
In the course of any given day, I may receive various questions regarding Scripture or theology. I personally love these as they are chances to reflect with others about what God has revealed and might be making known to and in us. I received the title of this blog post as an email subject line… Continue reading ‘What Does It Mean By “Submit”?’: A Question and a [Theological] Response
I was recently asked by a friend how I might answer someone claiming to see Satan in the message of Ezekiel 28:1-19 (HERE is the passage). Here is my brief response: First, I point to 28.2 which specifically says “prince of Tyre” and this message is embedded within a series of messages against the kingdom/city… Continue reading Could It Be … Satan
This Sunday I will be preaching from Mark 5:21-43 concerning the raising of Jairus’ dead 12 year old daughter and the healing of the unclean woman with 12 years of bleeding. Such stories are all the more striking in light of the OT and Jewish traditions regarding purity. To touch the dead (as Jesus does… Continue reading Sanctified Defilements: Cleansing Blood
“…on earth as it is in heaven…” While we might consider this from the trajectory of the revelation of the God to Israel preceding Jesus’ statement (which would be a fitting approach), we might also consider this statement as embodied in the one leading the prayer: Jesus the Christ. Such a reflection (drawing from the New… Continue reading On Earth As It Is In Heaven: A Brief Theological Reflection
Today I had a student that I am mentoring who mentioned something I said in one of my classes: “Grace is life”. I had said this as part of my response to a student’s sermon addressing grace, but never defining it in any sort of substantial sense. It seemed taken for granted. I had offered… Continue reading Grace Is Life
This quote speaks (in part) to Bonhoeffer’s notion of the world “come of age” and a “religionless Christianity” that has only spoken to God where human knowledge is at its limits. Such cannot be the case. He wrestled with the notion of a positive Christology over and against a simply negative Christology in his lectures… Continue reading Bonhoeffer on God in the Gaps
In Sunday School this week we covered Genesis 1. Something that struck me was verses 29-30: Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the… Continue reading Eating Your Theology (Gen.1)
In a recent conversation, I noted a particular question that was posed about “blessing the food” when we gather to eat. Here are my reflections: We do not ask for the food to be blessed, per se, but we bless the Lord and we give thanks for the food. “We do not ask for the… Continue reading Asking for Blessing or Giving Thanks?
I was struck by a re-reading of Exodus recently as I meditated on just what the overarching theology of Exodus might be. The Scripture that struck me most strongly was Exodus 4:22 (NET): Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn…‘ In light of the wider book of the Exodus, one encounters a… Continue reading The Revelation of Yahweh in the Exodus: The Theological Center
