Petra Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time. — John William Burgon Biblical Connections Preparing for a tour of Petra provides an opportunity to think about its biblical connections. Petra and its peoples’ histories begin with the history of Abraham’s descendants. When Abraham’s wife Sarah …
Structural or logical line diagramming serves as one of the chief means by which the exegete can identify verse structure in the Hebrew Bible. Since this method unlocks so much of the biblical text, I have begun a series of study helps in order to enable others to learn the method and to gain a better understanding of how it aids the …
Everyone who loves books, selects certain books as their favorites. Through 54 years of Christian faith and over 50 years of ministry and study, I have come to appreciate a large number of authors and titles. A full listing remains outside the purpose of this post. Here I will highlight key books on a variety of topics. This …
Royal Priests–Similarity, Not Identity If you have ever wondered about the identification and nature of the Christian’s priesthood, this brief study should be of interest. In addition to explaining why Peter uses Old Testament language to describe the believer’s priesthood, the study attempts to demonstrate that our priesthood does not mean that the Church has …
Is the doctrine of creation a peripheral or secondary (or even tertiary) biblical doctrine? Some scholars opine that instantaneous, miraculous, divine creation as a doctrine should be exchanged for natural evolution. Others would soften the exchange and substitute theistic evolution–that at least keeps God in the picture, even if it removes the instantaneous and miraculous. …
Good detectives build a solid case for indictment by gathering all necessary evidence from a variety of sources. Paying careful attention to details can resolve some of the most difficult problems. In the realm of biblical studies, the identification, nature, and use of inscriptions with psalms tends to be passed off as a waste of …
In September of 2015 I presented a series of studies on prophecy at Word of Grace Church in Battle Ground, WA. The series title is “Prophets in the Life of a Believer.” The series was also translated into Russian. Here are the video messages and links to both the English and Russian: Session 1: “What …
In June 2015 I had the great privilege of participating in teaching and preaching in Fortaleza, Brazil. The organizers translated my PowerPoint presentations and conference notes into Portuguese. The topic for the conference was Creation. I hope that making these materials available online will be an encouragement to many Portuguese-speaking Christians, lay people and pastors …
Brazilian Creation Conference PowerPoints and Notes–in Portuguese Read More »
In an effort to expand my contributions in the blogosphere, I accepted an invitation to submit an essay to another great biblical and theological website: “Parking Space 23.” My first contribution is “Continuity: Old Testament Truth in New Testament Clothing.” The continuity that exists between the two biblical testaments does not contravene the clear distinction between Israel …
Theologically and biblically speaking, penal substitution refers to God’s gift of His Son to undergo the penalty of death as a substitute for fallen humanity, recent efforts to deny that teaching notwithstanding. The OT offers many examples of cases in which divine judicial action resulted in the deaths of offenders who violated God’s standards of …
