Friday, August 22, 2014

A Response to “10 Reasons Why the Crucifixion Story Makes No Sense”


This post is a response to an article entitled “10 Reasons Why the Crucifixion Story Makes No Sense” which has been posted on a variety of blogs across the internet. This response is a guest post by Jared, a high school student. If you have not read the original post, I suggest reading the two together so you can better understand Jared’s responses. We hope this sparks a thoughtful discussion about the truth of the scriptures and their account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Friday, August 15, 2014

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Holy Relationships


I recently graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. A theological seminary is a school where people study God.  Some become pastors, others missionaries, and others teachers. My first semester there I took a very challenging class. Our professor was an interesting teacher but the days were long. One afternoon we all looked extra sleepy and extra bored. So out of nowhere my teacher stops lecturing about God. And he says a single word. This single word got all of our attention. “Sex…”

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Revelation 21:1-8 "Goodbye. See you in heaven."


Have you ever gotten lost? Have you ever gotten so lost you didn’t know where you were? It’s like you’ve stepped into an entirely different space where nothing is familiar. When I lived in Colorado one of my brothers got lost on a mountain. He has since referred to it as being “directionally confused.” Maybe you feel a little lost as you read Revelation chapters 20 and 21. But I think that’s how we’re supposed to feel when we read the great white throne judgment. In 20:11 all of creation fades into a lost space, “From his presence earth and sky fled away.” It’s as if Christ has moved the whole universe into a type of limbo for the judgment.  My professor at Gordon-Conwell called this point in Revelation “no place.” 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Colossians 1:15-23 Who is Jesus?


Who is Jesus? Our big question for today is “Who is Jesus?” But I can’t just invite Jesus up on stage to ask him. So how can we find out who Jesus is if he’s not here? If you wanted to know me, but I was away, what what would you do? You might go on Facebook and stalk my profile photos. Or you could call my wife Monica and ask her about me. Or you could search any documents that are available about me. You could look up newspaper articles or my writings. Maybe you’d try and find my original birth certificate.