Pentecost Sunday is the commemoration and celebration of the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the early church as recorded in Acts 2. In Acts 2, Jesus’ promise of the Spirit becomes a reality as the Spirit descends on the disciples at Pentecost. The disciples “began […]
“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them […]
In addition to writing the notes on Acts for the Gospel Transformation Bible, I also wrote Acts: A 12-Week Study. Author and Purpose Acts is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Both were written by Luke, a physician who traveled with the apostle Paul. […]
I was recently a special guest on the White Horse Inn podcast for a four-week series, God’s Hospitality. We explored the them of feasting from Genesis to Revelation. After eating the forbidden fruit, humanity was cast into sin and death. As Scripture unfolds, we discover […]
Ephesians 2 is filled with the good news of grace for both our justification and sanctification. The chapter begins by describing our natural condition—trapped in sin and by sin, rebelling against God to pursue our own ends on the one hand and suffering as the victims […]
I had the privilege of teaching for the Key Life radio broadcast. The series is “God, Grace, and Suffering” and we look at three psalms: Ps. 18, Ps. 22, and Ps. 55. Is it my fault? You save me from violence (Psalm 18) Have you ever wondered […]
Many contemporary Christians feel disconnected from the vibrant, Spirit-filled ministries of the prophets and apostles described in the Bible. In the Old Testament, God seemingly took the people of Israel through miraculous event after miraculous event. In the New Testament, those who watched the ministry […]
If you read the Bible, it is pretty clear that primarily masculine imagery is found throughout the Old Testament in reference to God (“father,” “warrior,” or “jealous husband,” for example). However as Leonard Swidler points out, we also find feminine language and images applied to […]
The pages of the Bible are filled with miraculous acts of God, and those who believe in the trustworthiness of Scripture surely believe in miracles. Yet today, when someone claims to have witnessed a miracle, even evangelical Christians tend to chuckle inside, perhaps attributing the “miracle” to […]
Carl Trueman writes that in the Anglican liturgy, one finds “a structure of worship which is determined by the interface between theological truth and biblically-defined existential need.” Trueman’s blog post is about about his visit to an Anglican service and the realization that Anglican worship services […]