Dig Deep

Challenge the Powers – Serve Christ

“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1, NIV).   “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39, NIV).   Roman Imperial Power   The Gospel of Mark begins and ends with a direct challenge to Roman imperial power. Mark wrote to persecuted Christians in the heart of the empire – the City of Rome – and makes the claim that Jesus the crucified Messiah is the Sovereign, not the emperor. Questions about the powers still […]

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“Behold! I Make All Things New”

Go with me back in time. It is 6:17 in the morning, April 6th, the 17th year of Tiberius Caesar. It is a few moments before sunrise. We are in a dark place, somewhere in Judea, a troubled province of the Roman Empire. There is a sudden movement of the earth beneath our feet. We brace ourselves in the darkness. It is an earthquake! Unable to see anything in the darkness, suddenly we hear the low, grinding sound of a heavy stone door being rolled away. Bright light intermittently enters the dark chamber where we find ourselves. The stone comes […]

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Resurrection: Embarrassing Evidence

(Scroll down to leave a comment on the  Resurrection) Because Easter is the first Sunday in April, I will focus my March article on the resurrection of Jesus. In sharing the good news of the gospel, I have learned from teachers like Habermas, Licona, Craig, and others, under the heading of “Criteria of Authenticity,” that counter-productive evidence for the resurrection really resonates with the skeptic. In my personal experience as a pastor, this draws the person I am witnessing to deeper into the gospel conversation, and often, it has led to a profession of faith in Jesus. Let’s take a […]

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My Capitol Experience

I find it interesting how a date will memorialize a moment in time. Loss has a particular ability to memorialize itself. We have all experienced some form of loss or another in the past year. We have lost loved ones; we have lost jobs, opportunities, experiences and the like. We have also lost some “heroes,” not all necessarily to a global pandemic but to the ever-present sin pandemic. A few weeks ago, I was reminded that my father had passed twelve years ago. Lisa, my wife, and I were also reminded of the loss of her sister 31 years ago […]

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The Frail Strength of Humility

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:3). Hung on the cross Let’s go back in time and imagine that we have followed the Savior along the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary. When we arrive at the hill, we are startled by the two thieves writhing in agony, already nailed to their crosses. The central cross, the place of greatest infamy, is where the soldiers will raise up Jesus to die. We see the two thieves and shudder. Several days before, James and John, […]

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A Biblical “BE MINE”

February is generally thought of as “The Month of Love” because of “the day of love”—February 14, Valentine’s Day. If you are anything like me, you probably have some memories of grade school (or as a parent of your own child) and the “mandatory” valentine card that was to be given out to each student. You couldn’t miss anyone; everyone in your class had to receive a card, so no one’s feelings would be hurt. When our four children were growing up, Kim and called it “Frantic February 14th” (unless the day fell on the weekend, making it “Frantic Friday”), […]

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Doing Life While Doing Time

The whole thing seemed so futile. They were down three touchdowns with less than a minute to play. The quarterback got the ball and hurled it downfield as far as possible hoping that one wearing his jersey would catch it. But if he did, so what? There was not enough time to make a comeback; why not just “take a knee” and leave it at that? Yet, time and time again this scenario is played out during fall weekends. The reason given… competitors do not stop playing until the clock strikes zero.   Clock management It is interesting to note […]

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The Hardest Thing

Baseball. No need to ponder, dig deep in the confines of my brain or compare notes; hands down… baseball, that’s what I thought. That’s the hardest thing I had ever done, by far. For most, the answer was sort of a letdown, particularly if they were privy to my sordid past. But, for all my colorful endeavors, it came down to the “national pastime.” The hardest thing  Nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare in degree of difficulty to hitting a round ball thrown by an expert hurler standing on a small hill 60 feet six inches from me with my only […]

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Welcome One Another

Robert Jewett succumbed to Covid-19 on December 4th. His students called him Dr. or Prof. Jewett while friends and colleagues just called him Bob, extraordinary Bob. Jewett’s most monumental work was a massive volume titled Romans: A Commentary (2006). This 1140 page tome took him 25 years to research and write. Fortunate for us slow readers, he subsequently published Romans: A Short Commentary in 2013. Prof. Jewett – Bob – teaches us today through his fresh and relevant insights into the Apostle Paul’s most important epistle. Surprisingly, Jewett pinpoints the heart of Romans in chapter 15, verse 7: “Welcome one […]

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THE GREATEST APOLOGETIC – The Deepest Desire of the Human Heart

As we launch out into a brand-new year together, let’s return to our focus on apologetics, which is rooted in the Bible’s command to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). The greatest apologetic I believe that the most powerful apologetic in the world speaks to the deepest longing of the human heart: To be fully known and completely loved. This makes the Gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest apologetic […]

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