My theological views can be summed up with one word: synthesis. Because I was not raised as a Christian, I was not immersed in a single form of Christian theological expression. Instead, I was exposed not only to a wide variety of theological perspectives but also to a diverse group of people holding these perspectives. I was exposed to various theologies throughout my teenage years, including Evangelical, Southern Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and United Methodist perspectives. In my college years, I was exposed to Anglican, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed/Calvinist, and charismatic theologies. Now, I have realized that I have synthesized many of these perspectives through listening, reading, fellowshipping, and worshipping with followers of Jesus from all these faith traditions.
Walking in the Word #24 – Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
We continue our study of the Wisdom literature with a study of two of the three connected wisdom books. Proverbs contains a treasure chest of wisdom for living the best life. These are not commands or promises, but they are pointers to how God wants us to live our lives. Ecclesiastes points towards what life looks like when we put things in place of God. Things that may be good and healthy become like vapor or smoke when we make them idols in our lives.
Walking in the Word #23 Sermon Psalm 136: Hesed
In this video, I present a sermon I delivered a few years ago on Psalm 136 and the Hebrew word Hesed
Walking in the Word #22 Song of Songs and Psalms
We begin our look at the Wisdom Literature. Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) is interesting. What do we make of this racy book? On the other hand, Psalms is a deeply moving collection of songs and poetry written by humans to God. However, God uses humans to talk about the Messiah in some very specific ways!
Walking in the Word #21 Ezra and Nehemiah (cont.)
We finish the books of history this week. While Israel has returned from exile, she continues to struggle with her neighbors and her faithfulness to God.
Walking in the Word #20 Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah
While Judah, Benjamin, and Levi are "guests" of the Babylonians, a lot happens during that time of Exile. God is preparing His people to return to the land he promised them. Esther is a special story that has modern relevance.
Walking in the Word #19 Kings and Chronicles (cont.)
We finish up our story of the post-Davidic divided kingdom. We will look at some pretty gnarly kings in the north and a few good kings in the south. In the end, exile is in store for both nations.
Walking in the Word #18 Kings and Chronicles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmJGf-vfg84 Kings and Chronicles tell similar stories but are very different books. We start with the end of David's life, Solomon's reign, and the beginning of the divided Kingdom. The T-shirt I am wearing is from Redeemed Christian Recovery, an awesome ministry run by my friend Shawn Hernandez. Through the work of Christ and the …
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Walking in the Word #17 Samuel Scroll (cont.)
Reviewing the life of David, we finish the Samuel scroll. David's life was a mixed bag of high achievements and low moral failings. This theme continues with God using messy people to do amazing things.
Walking in the Word #16 Samuel Scroll (cont.)
We are moving through the Samuel Scroll, reviewing Saul's life. We will also begin to look at David's life.
Walking in the Word #15 Ruth and Samuel
After walking through the dark messiness of Judges, we come to the beautiful story of Ruth, David's great-grandmother. After that, we begin talking about the Samuel scroll reviewing Israel's last judge.
Walking in the Word #14 Joshua and Judges
We are heading into the Promised Land! However, through all of the battles, Israel still struggles to remain faithful to YHWH. In Judges, we see a pattern of continued disobedience and God's mercy.
Walking In The Word #13 The Torah Pt. 6
Numbers is a tough book to read because it contains so many failures of Israel. But it is worth reading to set up Deuteronomy, which is the final three sermons from Moses. This is how the Torah ends and leads us to the historical books.
Walking in the Word #12 The Torah Pt 5
We finish Exodus and move into Leviticus. Most people find Leviticus hard to read, but we will go over the structure of the book that will help you read the book with a little more clarity.
Walking In the Word #11 The Torah pt 4
We've moved out of Genesis and into Exodus. The story of the Exodus sets up God's plan for redeeming humanity through an enslaved people. Many of the events have deep symbolic meanings for New Testament events and concepts.
Video Blog: Theological Distinctives
My Video Blog discusses my theological distinctives.
A Song in the Darkness:
In a time when all appears hopeless, a song streams from the Throne Room into the darkness.
The Power of one small word – Hesed -Psalm 136
This essay is a transcript of a sermon I delivered at Grace Community United Methodist Church October 31, 2021. If you want one of the bookmarks mentioned, please send me a message and I will get one to you. I invite you to read Psalm 136 with some other people to experience the power of this small word.
Exegesis of John 9 Part 3
Exegesis of John 9 Part 3 Critical Discussion John 9 takes the theological concepts of darkness and light and presents an object lesson to illustrate what that looks like with ordinary people. The duality between light and dark is not unique to this chapter. This theme is carried through the rest of his work. Starting …
Exegesis of John 9 Part 2
Exegesis of John 9 Part 2 Exegesis In chapter 8, Jesus has just given the Pharisees teaching on light and that Jesus is the light of the world (vs. 12). Further, he includes knowing Jesus is to know the Father (vs. 19). After this, Jesus cryptically predicts his death (vss. 28-29) and declares that those …
Exegesis of John 9 Part 1
Exegesis of John 9 Part 1 Introduction In John chapter 9, Jesus performs a stunning miracle. However, John adds a “Paul Harvey” rest of the story narrative to drive home a point on who is blind and who is not. This story gives just a couple of verses to the actual miracle. More important is …
Exegetical Comments on 3 John 5-12
Exegetical Comments on 3 John 5-12 The letter of 3 John is the most letter-like of the three epistles. John identifies himself as the elder (πρεσβύτερος) and identifies the recipient of the letter as Gaius. The identity of Gaius could be related to the figure of 1 Corinthians 1:14 and Romans 16:23, or it could …
Exegetical Comments on 2 John 4-11
Exegetical Comments on 2 John 4-11 The brief letter of 2 John has the theme of warning against false teachers and heresies. John begins this portion of his letter by commending those who have remained faithful to the gospel (vs. 4). John continues in vs. 5 by using the same address to his audience in …
Exegetical Comments on 1 John 2:3-11
Exegetical Comments on 1 John 2:3-11 During Jesus’ ministry, his adversaries were very concerned about keeping God’s commands in the Torah. So Jesus reduced the 613 laws of the Torah to two – love God completely and love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). The passage at hand speaks to the commandments of God …
Exegetical Comments on Revelation 1:12-16
Exegetical Comments on Revelation 1:12-16 The context of the passage it is in the beginning introduction of John's apocalyptic message. He will deliver specific messages to seven churches after this passage; the purpose of vss.12-20 is to introduce the message. Specifically, 12-16 introduces the figure of Jesus using apocalyptic language. John has introduced himself …
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