Tag Archives: faith

Grammar Matters

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I have always maintained that Paul has been misunderstood by most people in the church and by a lot of biblical scholars. Today’s New Testament experts who specialize in the study of Paul’s letters present a very different Paul from those of the past. Like many disciplines, biblical scholarship displays a contrast between older and younger scholars. The Paul who is emerging today is far more radical, inclusive, loving, and hopeful than the Paul of the past. Continue reading →

“Promises, Promises” Genesis 15:1-7

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Read the Scripture One of the persistent questions plaguing the faithful is this: How do we continue to trust the promises of God when the evidence against those promises is all around us? Genesis 15:1-7 highlights this problem. When Abraham was seventy-five years old, he and Sarah left all the… Continue reading →

Why Do We Christians Get It So Wrong? Part One

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(13 minutes) Consider this remarkable fact: in the Sermon on the Mount, there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do and how to be. By the time the Nicene Creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word… Continue reading →

The Problem With Fundamentalism

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Humility, uncertainty, and doubt are not found in fundamentalism. Faith is equated with unexamined belief in certain “fundamentals” which must never be questioned. Such an understanding of faith overlooks the two primary meanings of faith in the Bible: trust and fidelity to God and the way of the God we trust. Continue reading →

Paul and the Gospel, Part Three

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The royal proclamation is not simply the conveying of true information about the kingship of Jesus. It is the putting into effect of that kingship, the decisive and authoritative summoning to allegiance. Paul discovered, at the heart of his missionary practice, that when he announced the lordship of Jesus Christ,… Continue reading →

James 2:1-17 “Clubhouse Rules and Counterfeit Faith”

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Faith is all about the basic trust of our lives and what we depend on for our identity and security. James says faith that is only objective belief or sentimental emotion is thoroughly counterfeit. If faith were just a matter of proper belief, then the demons who know God is One (the cardinal doctrine of Judaism and Christianity) would be on the front rows in heaven. And if faith were a matter of sentimental emotion, those with an overactive hypothalamus would be singing in the celestial choirs of the angels with big crocodile tears streaming down their faces. Genuine, 24K faith is a trust that takes concrete form in the way we live our lives. Only such faith is saving. Continue reading →

John 20:1-10 “When Loving is Believing”

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Read the Scripture One of the great mysteries in the New Testament is the identity of the beloved disciple in John’s Gospel. His first appearance in the Gospel occurs in chapter 13 at the Last Supper. In Jesus’ day, Jews reclined while eating their special meals. During the Last Supper,… Continue reading →

Cracks and Questions

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Questions and cracks are two ways God can use to deepen our faith, encourage our growth, and give us great joy. Those who dread such a route very often have a religion based on fear. If they question or doubt, they are afraid they will go to hell or face some terrible punishment. But once our minds have expanded by asking a question or harboring a doubt, they can never return to their original size. Continue reading →