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One of the most popular methods used in Christian preaching and teaching today is taking a topic or text and presenting it as a list of principles.
I would like to briefly examine some of the “good” and “not so good” aspects of the practice of turning texts or topics into principles as the primary methodology […]

Job 10:1 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and […]

Two questions that are crucial to anyone studying and teaching scripture in a Jesus-shaped, Jesus centered way:
What would I have thought if I were there when Jesus taught, did miracles, engaged in conversations, meals, etc.?
What do the same events and words mean now that I have the entire Bible to bring all of scripture to […]

“Now - here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart
that I doubt I shall ever achieve again,
so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words.
My secret is that I need God –
that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.
I need God […]

I’ve been in a verse-by-verse study of I and II Timothy this year with several other men on our staff. We had an interesting discussion on this passage and its application in various contexts.
II Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people […]

In my preaching to students from all over the world and many different backgrounds, I am always looking for shorthand ways to communicate the Bible’s message.
For example, I’ve taught my students over the years to say “He (Jesus) lived a perfect life for us, and died a perfect death in our place.” I use this […]

The word “commandment” is one every first century Jew understood. God had made Adam in such a way that he was responsible to obey God’s commandments. The Ten Commandments were the law of God for his covenant people, expounded and expanded in the books of the law from Exodus through Deuteronomy.
It was the law of […]

John 13:12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have […]

The Gospel According to John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it […]

Matthew 13:27-30. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to […]

This is the last post on the subject of the Church: Flawed and Finished. The others are directly below. I will be doing an F.A.Q. post on the topic.
1, 2, 3, 4.
What is the connection between the flawed church in history and the completed, finished perfect body of Christ?
Is it the fact that God […]

Before moving on into more posts on the relationship of the historical church and the ideal church, I want to ask and briefly answer some questions.
1. To what extent is the historical church flawed?
Like the human beings that make up the church, the historical church is fallen, sinful and affected by sin in every way […]

This series looks at how imperfect and flawed congregations can possibly be the church of Jesus. The first two posts in the series are here and here.
When scripture speaks of the church in ideal terms, it is always from the viewpoint of God’s finished work of love and new creation that begins and ends with […]

The introduction to this series is here. I was somewhat “motivated” recently when a Protestant convert on EWTN said “Protestants have Christ, but they don’t have his bride.” I found the statement quite…..interesting, especially in view of how I believe the scriptures describe the church in history and in God’s plans.
This second post deals with […]

Some recent comments on EWTN drove me back to my Bible and some time thinking through my concept of how the church is both fallible and perfect; flawed and finished; historical and eternal. I’ll share several brief posts walking through the relationship between a very human and flawed historical reality and its relationship with the […]