Rev. Platt speculates that there are only two reasons why there are not more missionaries in the area from which he was filming. The first reason he offers is that Christians don’t know that there are billions of unsaved people across the world. Most Christians I know do know this. That fact drives them to... Continue Reading

We might ask what difference it makes that Jesus is both priest and king. I suspect the readers of this letter were wondering the same thing. It makes a massive difference!   The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). This profound truth leads an honest reader to ponder what Jesus’... Continue Reading

Falk is not attempting to pin down the GPS coordinates of the Garden of Eden. Instead, he argues that, in the mindset of the original author of Genesis, Eden is “not located somewhere on Earth but represents the whole earth.” If Eden is reimagined as the whole earth, then the artistic spirit may have awakened on opposite... Continue Reading

In Rom 1:13, Paul says that he “often intended to come” to the Romans. In that report of his (frustrated) travel plans, the pro- in protithēmi may have a temporal sense (projecting a plan for the future) or an imaginative sense (proposing an idea, setting it out there for consideration), or both. On this model, Eph 1:9 teaches that... Continue Reading

Stop concentrating so much on what God is asking of you; start focusing on what he’s already given you. When Christ endured the brutal whip, the jeering and fist-striking — when he suffered more than any of us have, he was standing in your place. You and I deserved the bloodlust torture Christ endured, for... Continue Reading

A flourishing society and prosperous economy require values unlikely to germinate in a schizophrenically partitioned society, where faith is somehow excluded from the public square. We don’t need a secular marketplace devoid of faith. Our nation needs more authentic faith expression throughout the marketplace, with followers of Jesus effectively demonstrating the policies and priorities of... Continue Reading

At the heart of the Reformation was the Bible, but not just the Bible translated, it was the Bible preached, taught, and explained. This was Luther’s commitment. According to Luther, “The Word of God is the greatest, most necessary, and most sublime part in Christendom.” The Reformer went on to say, “We can spare everything,... Continue Reading

All Protestants acknowledged that there must be a mutual subjection of ministers and magistrates, as ministers submitted to magistrates in affairs of the temporal kingdom, while magistrates bowed to the authority of the Word as proclaimed by the ministers. But there were bound to be gray areas, especially in a society where nearly all citizens... Continue Reading

Christian confusion about the meaning of neighbor love spills over into confusion about how we should view our nations. Faithfulness to God obviously trumps all else. Nations are earthly goods, just like families are. But they are not for that reason to be dismissed as nothing more than sources of evil or idolatrous temptation. The... Continue Reading

I often hear the elderly in our congregation (and in others) lament that there is nothing left for them to do. Their strength is meagre, and they sigh in dissatisfied resignation, “I guess I can still pray”. One main thing needs to say to those who are victims of this attitude. It is that we... Continue Reading