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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Treasuring Christ

Thanks to a faithful sermon from Justin Childers this morning I was reminded of the central place Christ should have in our hearts, which prompted me to ask,

Do we think, teach, and preach about Christ in such a way that we are left realizing that to be without Him would be unthinkably horrific?

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Interesting Article on Tebow's Ad

Justin Taylor linked to a thoughtful article from a feminist on Tebow's upcoming Super Bowl ad.  It seems to me if we were able to have honest conversations like this one with people who disagree with us we might get somewhere on the major ethical and philosophical issues of the day.  This is just as true for conservative, evangelical Christians as "the other side."  So, let's learn a lesson from this journalist and not create caricatures and straw mean, but actually engage those who disagree with us.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Jesus and the Old Testament

"For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him" -Acts 13:27

This verse helps us understand how we should interpret the Old Testament. I think we often mistakenly think that the Old Testament is unclear in it's object and it is our task to help it along in what it's trying to accomplish. We think it's our task to make the Messiah clear where it's not quite so obvious. Paul would disagree.

Here Paul says that the people of Israel should have recognized Jesus based on the scriptures themselves. He "looked" like the Messiah they should have been waiting for had they correctly understood the prophets. So, the fault lies not with the Old Testament, but with those who fail to meditate on it day and night.

John Sailhamer's analogy is helpful here. We often think of the New Testament as a spotlight shining back on the OT. In reality, it may be better to think of the OT as a spotlight shining on the NT giving it a context that makes sense. It provides the evidence of a Messiah that Jesus fulfills.

Acts 10:42-43 points us in the same direction: "And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”