In his book, How God Became King, N. T. Wright claims that one aspect of the church’s misreading of the Gospels is the failure to reckon with their political character. If this story of Jesus is the story of Israel reaching its climax, it is inescapably political and will raise questions the Western world has […]

This year is Galatianspalooza for me.  I’m teaching Paul’s letter over the summer and again in the fall, and I’ll be attending the conference on Galatians and Christian Theology in St. Andrews in July. I’m thinking of revising a previously-taught course for the fall.  In addition to exercises in working through the text itself, I […]

John develops the one true God’s identity in an impressive variety of ways in Revelation.  One of the most important is as “the One who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5). The designation interprets the divine name found in Exodus 3:14, which associates the name of the […]

Several dear friends graduated from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary this evening.  I was blessed to give the prayer of invocation.  This is my prayer: Father in heaven, we praise you for the love you constantly show us in Jesus.  We thank you for your goodness to us, for your constant presence with us by your Spirit, […]

I’m teaching Galatians over the summer and again this fall, and I’ll almost certainly be using Bruce Longenecker’s book, The Triumph of Abraham’s God: The Transformation of Identity in Galatians. He wonderfully captures Paul’s apocalyptic vision, framing the issues in terms of competing realms and competing sovereignties.  The Galatians must decide which realm they will […]

Last August I wrote that Tiger Woods would not break Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 professional major championships.  He currently has 14, which is astounding, but he needs to win five more. Mike Adams wrote the other day that Woods will win a major this year–maybe even the U.S. Open–and eventually win 20 majors. I disagree. […]

The warnings passages in Hebrews present difficulties for interpretation and theological integration.  David DeSilva notes that when reading these texts, interpreters need to do so from within the same theological framework as the author. The debate often hinges, however, on the attempt to determine whether or not this group of people has experienced “salvation.”  Are […]

I’m lecturing on Revelation Thursday night and, as always, am enjoying dipping back into Richard Bauckham’s brilliant book, The Theology of the Book of Revelation.  A snippet: John’s work is a prophetic apocalypse in that it communicates a disclosure of a transcendent perspective on this world. John (and thereby his readers with him) is taken […]

In Mark’s Gospel, the temple in Jerusalem becomes the object of God’s judgment.  The temple apparatus had become a system of oppression and exploitation rather than a means of blessing for God’s people and for the nations. Jesus wants his disciples to discern the temple’s true condition and Mark wants his readers to do the […]

*Originally given at Midtown Christian Community, Sept. 4, 2010 Mark 11 shows us some of the ways, patterns, and dynamics of the Kingdom of God.  It also reveals to us some of the ways that we end up missing what the King and the Kingdom are all about. Last week I quoted from U2’s The […]