Originally published in July 2010 under a different title. A friend who is both a theologian and a history professor pointed out that the title itself might be in error, even if the content of the blog itself was essentially…
Hallmark 1, Church 0
Father’s Day is a wonderful celebration that was invented to complement the much older celebration of Mother’s Day. It provides an excellent opportunity to preach sermons on the importance of fathers and biblical family leadership. The idea was introduced in 1910…
Shavuot and the Coming of the Holy Spirit
Sunday is the feast of Pentecost. It is the celebration each year of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church fifty days after the Resurrection. However, Pentecost didn’t originate in the New Testament. That’s just the Greek name…
Noah in Hindsight
I saw the film Noah about six weeks ago. I saw it because people wanted to know my opinion of it. So I gave my opinion of it to my inquirers in person and here. To the delight of some…
Do We Really Want to Pray in Jesus’ Name?
It’s like a closing to a letter. After all, how many people are thinking about their own sincerity or even less of how they belong to the intended recipient, when they write, “Sincerely Yours,”? Or in the British tradition, are…
The Cross Was Not Enough
Having explained the historical verifiability of the Resurrection in the first eleven verses of 1 Corinthians 15, St Paul then explains the theological necessity of the Resurrection in verse 12-19. His entire premise is built upon the reality of resurrection itself.…
Making the Case for the Resurrection
The most detailed explanation of the Resurrection in the New Testament is presented by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. He spends what we have as the first eleven verses establishing the historic fact of the Resurrection. This is unique…
The True Healing in the Cross
In Holy Week we focus especially on the Passion of the Lord, as we look forward to the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I thought it a good time to look at one of the more misunderstood, misconstrued…
Noah: Engaged Mind Required
After a flood of warnings and encouragements from across the spectrum of American Christianity, I decided to see Noah at the cinema. I don’t usually find movies to be value for money at cinema prices (even matinees), especially when it…
Loving Your Neighbor: The Full Context
Everyone knows that the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said it and that’s all there is to it, right? Sometimes we forget that Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament. He was quoting it…