Thomas Erskine (1788-1870) and George MacDonald (1823-1905) were two Scottish theologians whose forgotten legacy is one of the tragedies of Western Christianity. Erskine was a Scottish lord and lay theologian. MacDonald was a Scottish Protestant minister and fantasy novelist. Erskine influenced MacDonald, and MacDonald influenced C. S. Lewis and J…. Continue reading
(24 minutes) What Jesus meant by “the Kingdom of God” is often misunderstood by those in and outside the church. By “entering the Kingdom of God,” he did not mean going to heaven when we die. Part of that misunderstanding is based on Matthew’s preference for the phrase “Kingdom of… Continue reading
(13 minutes) In part one of “The Eye of a Needle,” we acknowledged the addictive danger of wealth in Jesus’ teachings. We also recognized that his warning about the love and pursuit of money can be found in several parables and various teachings. He even saw wealth as the chief… Continue reading
Wrath is not as cut and dry a concept as many of us have been taught. We see in the Hebrew Scriptures the priority and abiding nature of God’s loving kindness over God’s limited wrath. As Jesus teaches in Luke 15, God seeks the lost sheep and the lost coin until She finds them. And if we continue our rejection of love, goodness, and shalom, God gives us a free rein to continue our folly. But we see in Paul that even when God gives us over to our sin and consigns us to disobedience, Her mysterious plan finds a way to have mercy on each of us. Continue reading
Read the Scripture Perhaps no verse has been quoted by those outside the church to those inside the church more than our passage today: “Judge not lest you be judged.” Do Jesus’ words mean that we are never to make judgements in this life? Do we have no right or… Continue reading
(19 minutes) The third dimension of shalom can be seen in the following definition (I do not know who first offered this definition, but I have seen it in several publications without reference to authorship): “Shalom is a state of being where nothing is broken and no one is missing.”… Continue reading
For every passage one may quote confirming the finality of hell for non-believers, I can quote another passage which presents a more compassionate option. In the final analysis, we must decide which is stronger—our human, puny capacity to subvert the will of God for our salvation or God’s infinite grace. Continue reading
(Based on the exegesis of Walter Brueggemann in Tenacious Solidarity: Biblical Provocations on Race, Religion, Climate, and the Economy, pp. 369-373) Read Psalm 109 For a few moments I want you to think back on your life to those times when you have been wronged, mistreated, betrayed, abused, used, hurt,… Continue reading
(This short article is intended for five groups: Christians who are prone to limit God’s grace to those who believe exactly as they do; Christians whose predominant images of God are punitive and judgmental in nature; Christians who are confused regarding the nature of grace; non-Christians who mistakenly assume the… Continue reading
In a previous sermon [Genesis 1:1-12:3 “The First Things” (Ancient Near Eastern Traditions and Historical Context) Part 2], we looked at the similarities between the flood story in Genesis and the account of a great flood in the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic—a story which dates many years before Israel ever came… Continue reading
