Change in Churches - What is Healthy?

There is a fine line we walk when we talk about change. The line is between relevance to a lost and dying world and being pleasing to the God who has made us our own. When people try to swing too hard in either direction the results are often disastrous. Those who seek to please [...]

Bible Study - Seeing the Big Picture

I have always been one for details. When I study a passage I tend to break things down as small as possible. When you do that there is only so much information you can handle at a time. What is the background? Who is speaking? Where are they located and how might that affect the [...]

John’s Chronology of The Woman Caught in Adultery - John 7:53-8:11

Many contend that the story of the woman caught in adultery found in John 7:53-8:11 was not written by John. Several of the earliest manuscripts do not contain it. It does not seem to fit well in the narrative of John 7-8. It is abrupt, out of place, and is sandwiched between two important symbols [...]

What Does Paul refer to as “Scripture” in 2 Timothy 3:14-17

I recently received this email from a friend of mine,
Matt,
I have a question about 2 Timothy 3:14-17, which reads:
“14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and
how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able [...]

How Archaeology Helps Us Understand Scripture

Archaeology plays a major role in how we understand the Bible. It is more than Indiana Jones style trips to far away lands in search of lost treasures or the holy grail. In a practical way, archaeology illuminates scripture as we come to understand the culture and language of the time in more precise ways. [...]

Familiarizing Ourselves with Biblical Culture

The following quote is from Peter C. Craigie in Ugarit and the Old Testament,

“The Bible in not a difficult [book] to read…It was written for the ordinary person. But the modern reader faces a problem unknown to the original readers and hearers of the biblical message: the passage of time has imposed the gulf of [...]

Neutic, Herman (500 B.C. - 2007 A.D.)

Herman Neutic was born amidst the Greek philosophers and Jewish rabbis in the centuries prior to the birth of Christ. While publicly very quiet and reserved, much was written about him in the two millennia since his birth. He has been surrounded by much controversy in the last two hundred years that ultimately resulted in [...]