On This Rock I Will Build My Church – Matthew 16:18

There has been a lot of ink spilled over the issue of which “rock” Jesus is talking about in Matthew 16:18. Why not spill some more? First let’s have a look at the text. [To the left a picture of the Gates of the underworld in Caesarea Philippi.]
“13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea [...]

Gospel of John 8:12-59 – Jesus Gets Testy

John 8:12-59 contains some of the best known lines in John but they aren’t said to a loving, accepting mob of fervent believers. They are spoken to a mostly obnoxious and rebellious group in Jerusalem. In 8:12 Jesus says he is the light of the world. One of the great “I am” statements and one [...]

100% Effective Evangelism

Reading John 7 today I kept noticing the theme of Jesus bringing a dividing line to the people he was with. They either believed in him or they didn’t. They either put their faith in him or they wanted him dead! It wasn’t really that extreme but often in John it feels that way. What [...]

The Prodigal Son – Servants or Sons?

Yesterday Northwest celebrated our 52nd anniversary with a Homecoming Sunday. It was a really uplifting day with those leading the worship being ministers who grew up at Northwest as children and later went on into ministry. Our theme focused on Luke 15 and the prodigal son. As Donny Dillon preached to us from that passage [...]

Gospel of John – Tidbits from Chapter 6

Passover/Exodus parallels in John 6:
John 6:4 tells us the Passover was near. The events that follow are the feeding of the 5000, Jesus walking on water, and then questions about mana and eating Jesus body.
If you remember back to the book of Exodus the order of events went something like this:

Passover meal
Crossing the Red Sea
Mana [...]

Gospel of John 6:16-24 Jesus Walks on Water

This morning as I was reading about Jesus walking on the water it hit me how unusual this was. Normally people walking on water would be an unusual experience. But after having read and heard this story at least 100 times somehow it loses its sense of wonder. After all, this is the same guy [...]

Gospel of John 4:43-54 A Big Request

43After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46Once more he [...]

Walking in the Light Does Not Mean We Never Sin

Many Christians have been fed the works-righteousness lie of the sin-out, repent-in cycle. It goes something like this…When you become a Christian you are reconciled to God but when you sin, until the moment you repent you are in danger of the fires of hell. Don’t forsake the assembly…you might go to hell. Don’t do [...]

John 3:16 – God Actually Gave His Only Son

Raymond Brown translates John 3:16, “Yes, God so loved the world so much that He gave the only Son, that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” In his commentary he makes a case for translating “gave” as “actually gave”, pointing out that the emphasis in this verse is [...]

Gospel of John 4:28 – Are You Still Holding Onto Your Water Jar

In John 4 there is a woman who had been coming at noon to draw water by herself in the heat of the day. It could be she came at the hottest hour of the day to avoid the shame she faced from her community over her “living situation.” She has been married five times [...]