Verse-by-Verse Studies Added!
I’ve been preaching regularly for a while now, and I’m a big fan of expository preaching. When someone goes through the Bible chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse, not only do we get the opportunity to learn everything that God laid out for us in his word, but it creates a wonderful reference for the future for anyone…
King of Kings: Abgar and Jesus
The ancient world was shaped by kings; men whose words were law and whose birthrights were governance. Their will, for good or ill, shaped the world. Stories of such kings converting to Christianity have a special place in Christian legend, as it often resulted in an overwhelming conversion of a nation afterwards. This post details…
A Monk for a New Year’s Mentor
As we enter the new year, we inevitably look back on our actions in 2025 and ask ourselves, “Am I proud of that?” Some of us make resolutions to help address the areas we want to change, while others make less formal plans in the hope that some flexibility might make things a little easier…
Letters from Luther: The Struggles (and Gifts) of Wartburg
The story of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms is the stuff of legend. Who could forget that grand moment in which he refused the emperor’s demands and cast his whole hope on the Gospel? You can just imagine his voice resounding as he spoke those legendary words: Unless I am convinced by…
What Do We Mean By ”Apocrypha?”
It’s so important to know what a word means before you start disagreeing with someone about it. I remember a whole debate that I had with an old roommate about the ethics of punching someone that was “imminently” about to attack one of your friends or you. I insisted that you should always try to…
Augustine’s Commentary on John 13:1-5
Augustine preached his way through the Gospel of John, which is such a treat. As a fellow pastor preaching his way through John, it’s awesome to be able to see the different ways that Augustine engaged with the same Scriptures that I’m working through. I don’t always agree with him, of course. At different points,…
The Lord’s Prayer: Debts or Trespasses
I’m sure many of you have had this experience: you’re visiting a church that’s a little different than what you’re used to and the time for the Lord’s Prayer comes. Things are going pretty well until… boom! They ask God to forgive them their “debts” instead of “trespasses (or “trespasses” instead of “debts”—you get the…
Conveniently Untranslatable: Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna
One of my personal pet peeves is when pastors bust out the weird words for Hell. “You can see here that they’re talking about Gehenna, which is different than Hades and certainly much different than Hell.” Huh? Hades and Gehenna aren’t English words. You’re just leaving words in their original language and insisting that it’s…
The Seven Deadly Sins: Their Origins and Why to Love the List
I just wrapped up a sermon series on the seven deadly sins, and I have to admit, I learned to appreciate that little list more than I expected. I hadn’t seen it used all that much outside of tv shows (don’t tell me you’ve never seen a hero fight their way through a band of…
Reading the Bible in Latin is Cool
I’m back! I took some time away after the birth of my second son, and it was incredibly rewarding. I’m blessed not only to have him in my life, but to have had some time to spend with him and his brother and my wife in that transitional period as our family grew. I learned…
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Classic Theology 