Know the setting for each Old Testament Prophet? Now you do.
The Prophets (Isaiah – Malachi) are some of the most fascinating and least understood books of the Old Testament. In this series, we’ll give some insight into how to approach them, and provide some context for listening to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Minor Prophets. We’ll draw some conclusions about how they apply to us, and how they are fulfilled in Christ.
This introductory post covers how to approach the prophets. What is a prophet? How do we know what context they were addressing?
Here’s the best summary I’ve ever read of this crucial doctrine: Justification by Faith: Debates Old and New. It’s a post by Michael Bird, on the Logos blog.
It’s easy to become so attached to the view of our own tribe that we don’t hear what others are saying. Michael Bird doesn’t make that mistake. He understands and fairly represents how justification by faith has been understood in the traditional debates (Catholicism versus the Reformers) and in current scholarship (new perspective on Paul, apocalyptic Paul, and Paul with Judaism).
Set half an hour aside to bring yourself up to speed. You’ll benefit from years of Dr Bird’s research, discussions, and engagement with historical and current thought.
His outline:
I’ve been meditating on why Jesus described himself as the son of man. It’s the simplest and most profound self-designation. It redefines us all.
Linguistically, the phrase means nothing more than a human being — a descendant of humanity. Calling himself human doesn’t make Jesus special; it makes him one of us.
What is special about a human identity? Ah, that question takes us to the heart of the God revealed in Christ.
Continue reading ““Son of man” — the backstory of Jesus’ authority”
This is a guest post from Steven McCready of Riverview Church in Western Australia, reposted from Steve McAlpine.
I’m writing this to my brothers and sisters, the pastors of the churches in Perth. I am a guest in this great city, and I consider it an honour to co-labour with you in this great work. As I enter my third year of ministry here, I want to offer some fresh perspective into what we are mislabelling as church growth and then offer some pastoral reflections to equip you for this cultural reality that is ours to minister within.
Continue reading “Are churches growing or are Christians just shifting?”
Free course in Matthew’s Gospel, with notes and podcasts
Update 2023-11-18: Notes and podcasts added.
The second half of Matthews’ Gospel resumes over seven Wednesdays from 18 October 2023 (7–9 pm) at Riverview Church (Perth, Western Australia).
Jesus’ main message was the kingdom. Paul’s main message was the gospel. What’s our message: gospel, or kingdom?
Should we follow Jesus or Paul? Or are they connected?
Here’s a simple proposition: The gospel establishes the kingdom.
How do we become blessed? Do the Beatitudes tell me how to get the blessing? Or was Jesus speaking as the king elect, describing how beautiful the community under his heaven-appointed leadership would be?
What are the Beatitudes? What are they calling us to do or be?
Continue reading “The beatific community of the king (podcast)”
Something changed when a Canaanite recognized Jesus as the Davidic heir.
Continue reading “What Jesus learned from a Canaanite (Matthew 15:21-39)”
It sounds offensive. There’s more going on.
Would you be offended if someone compared you to a dog?
Update 2023-09-07: Week 7 podcasts added.
Here’s another series of Formed in God’s Story. This one covers the Gospel of Matthew.
This morning I woke up in a sci-fi dream. I was part of a team mining essential minerals on a foreign planet. We were not to disclose who we were or where we came from or how much we’d found, since teams from other countries were seeking the same resources.
The stakes were high. If our enemies beat us, we may not have a future. We weren’t sure how far they would go to stop us. There were rumours of teams using chemicals and explosives for purposes other than mining. We never knew if the threat was genuine or disinformation.
Who gets ahead in this world? Is it those who climb on top by cancelling others? Is it the people who advertise themselves with self-confidence? Is it those who know how to manipulate markets to increase margins? What is success?
By our standards, Noah was successful. He floated a limited company while everyone else was being liquidated. He won the Monopoly game.
But our preoccupation with competition creates a world where the strong win and the strugglers lose. God is not a Capitalist. God was not pleased when Cain asserted himself by wiping Abel out. The legends of old boasted of their warrior exploits, but God saw it differently: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5)
God regretted the day he gave us dominion over creation. Why? We turned that authority into domination of each other. That’s the opposite of God’s heart (6:7). The monopoly game — dominating each other — makes the world pointless: corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence (6:11).
“The world is not enough,” according to 007. He’s probably right: a world dominated by evil is pointless. God takes responsibility for his mess (6:12-13). Rather than leave the decaying world to spiral down and destroy itself, God gave one person a chance.
A meditation to take into prayer or share with your prayer group.
Amen is a Hebrew word (ʾā·mēn), expressing agreement with what has just been said. It means something like, “Truly so! May it be!”
Some examples:
Enoch walked into God’s presence without dying. That’s inspiring. He’s the second example of faith in Hebrews 11.
Enoch’s relocation into the heavenly realm is intriguing. What did he see when he got there? How is that world different to this one? Where are the dead? Why is there so much evil in this world? How will God sort out the sufferings of his people and bring justice to the world? What can we learn from Enoch?
A fresh take on Abel’s faith.
There’s no shortage of sermons and podcasts on faith, on how to receive by faith, or how to protect ourselves with the shield of faith. But do you recall any sermons on the faith of Abel?
Who wants to follow in Abel’s footsteps? Whatever faith he had, it didn’t end well for him.
I did find a message where Abel’s faith tops the list. Abel is the prime example in Hebrews 11:
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
Didn’t Cain win that one? Why start a faith message with the loser? What was different about Abel’s faith?
Is faith still relevant today? Or does it belong to a bygone era when Christendom ruled? Many who depended on the church to sustain them are seeing their faith crumble.
Does faith make sense anymore? Is it reasonable to believe for something better when there’s so much wrong? In the face of the whole gamut of crumbling relationships from personal despair to social anxiety and global conflicts, we need a very secure basis to hold on to faith.
A single, congruent narrative runs through the Torah and historical books of the Old Testament.
We’ve seen how:
Why did the Church proclaim Charles as God’s anointed?
You’d need to be 70 to have seen the coronation of a British monarch before. The nature of the coronation ceremony came as a surprise to many. It was an Anglican church service, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Justin Welby acknowledged King Jesus as the king of kings, and called on Charles III to do the same. Submission to heaven’s reign matters: a king who humbles himself and pledges to live as a servant of the heavenly throne is more likely to treat his people with grace than a ruler who believes all power rests in his own hands.
The big question the coronation raised for me is this: Is Charles God’s anointed? Is that the good news the church is called to proclaim?
This is part 3 of a survey of the Torah and historical books, looking at how we are Formed in God’s Story: Genesis–Esther.
We saw that all people belong to God, but in response to the nations going their own way God promised his own nation to show what they’re missing (Genesis).
We saw God freeing Jacob’s descendants from bondage to human rule, forming them into a nation under his leadership through the Sinai covenant (Exodus).
This third part describes life in the kingdom led by the Lord:
So, here are the notes for part 3, covering these four books:
Continue reading “Formed in God’s story: Leviticus – Joshua”
What’s at the heart of the gospel? Kingdom? Or covenant?
We’re God’s kingdom. That defines the relationship between heaven and earth. God is sovereign; we are his creatures in the earthly realm that is governed by heaven. Our relationship with God is that of king and kingdom.
Or maybe covenant is the unifying theme? There’s no shortage of theologians who see it that way. So who’s right? Is it kingdom or covenant?
Both themes run through Scripture, but they’re not competing. Kingdom is established through covenant.
Seeking the kingdom 