Noah, Action Hero

Brian Godawa, screenwriter of To End All Wars, has written a “speculative retelling” of the Noah story titled, Noah Primeval: Chronicles of the Nephilim Book I. I was contacted about reviewing the book and at first was not interested. “Hollywood re-envisions a Bible story” did not sound interesting. However, when I noticed Godawa has a …

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Thundering Knox Preached Grace

John Knox is known as a thundering preacher, and he was. However, it is easy for us to associate “thundering” with condemnation. Douglas Bond, examining one of only two surviving sermons from Knox (on the temptations of Jesus), concludes: “Knox labored to give confidence to his flock in their sanctification. There is no hint of …

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Historical Examples as Spurs to Perseverance

For me, there are times in ministry when I feel completely overwhelmed. The size, depth and number of the needs plus my own weakness and failures combine for a crushing despair. Many gospel  tools are needed for these situations, and one of these tools is the example of our forebears. It is helpful for me …

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C. H. Dodd on Paul’s Poor Writing & Defective Imagination

The Apostle Peter tells us that in Paul’s letters “there are some things … that are hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). We are not surprised then to find passages which require work to understand. In these cases it becomes particularly clear whether one approaches the Scripture expecting it to conform to one’s own understanding …

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Mark Galli “Why We Need More ‘Chaplains’ and Fewer Leaders : What’s a pastor for?”

Mark Galli’s recent article in Christianity Today by this title is well done and resonates with the concerns of this blog. He begins by noting a typical website which suggested “chaplain” type pastors led to church decline and instead encouraged us to look for pastors with innovative ideas which would lead to “growth.” In fact …

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