When we think of Good Friday we tend to focus—rightly—on the death of Jesus. Even further we tend to focus on the physical aspects of crucifixion. The Romans had perfected this method of execution and it was a truly horrific way to kill a person. Crucifixion inflicted maximum pain with minimal effort. Once a person…

Last Sunday I preached an excursus—a more focused treatment—on the issue of ethnic hostility from Ephesians 2:11. A significant part of Paul’s letter is devoted to the issue of ethnic division and reconciliation in the church. This is significant for in the first three chapters Paul is spelling out the good news of Jesus. Salvation…

“What is Lent?” I was asked this yesterday. It’s a good question. To really answer it, however, we must first understand the concept of spiritual disciplines. When we hear the word discipline we often think of corrective action. When a child disobeys his mama, he is disciplined. That’s only half the story of discipline, though.…

The issue of slavery and the Bible often comes up, particularly with the question why the Bible does not forbid slavery outright. It is clear there are limits and parameters placed on slavery as the law of Moses had plenty to say about slavery, which was primarily a poverty-alleviating solution that was intended to be…

I was recently asked to comment on a newer method for engaging folk with the gospel. This particular method is a variation of several other methods including the Child Evangelism Fellowship “Wordless Book” that utilizes colors as talking points, Evangelism Explosion’s two diagnostic questions (If you were to die tonight where would you go? and…