Trayvon Martin, Race and the Gospel

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Posted by Andrew 

John Piper has an excellent post on Trayvon Martin, race, and the gospel here. Here’s an excerpt:

Jesus died and rose again to say no to racial reactions that result in dead boys. Not just to say no. But to empower no. And the power is not in shedding others’ blood but his own. The power is in humbling every race to be more suspicious of our own racial instincts than we are of others’ racial intentions.

Being a Christian means being crucified with Christ. My old arrogant self. My old ethnocentric self. My old fearful, suspicious, unloving self. That self died with Jesus. Jesus said, “Take up your cross daily.” That means daily reckoning my old self dead.

What Does 666 Stand For?

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Every once in a while I hear some weirdo on T.V. talk about how the government is going to start putting some barcode on everyone’s arm so we can buy things in the future like we are walking iphone apps or something. They then proceed to freak out because they assume that this is the “mark of the beast” spoken of in the book of Revelation. Before we go any further, let me give you a good rule when interpreting the book of Revelation:

Any interpretation that would not have made sense to the original audience (1st century Jews living under Roman domination) is probably a wrong interpretation.

So, what does the mark of the beast really stand for? There have been many interpretations. Some think that it stands for humanism. Man was made on the sixth day and so 666 must therefore represent the exaltation of man against God. Others think that, since the number 7 is the Jewish number of perfection that the number 666 represents an evil, non-perfect trinity of the devil, his beast, and the false prophet. However, I don’t believe that any of these are correct. Below is what I believe this number stands for as it makes so much more sense in context. Continue reading →

Difficult Bible Passage Series: Interpretation of 1 Peter 3:21 – “baptism now saves”

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Guest Post by Zach Games. Zach Games is a youth pastor at Galilee Baptist Church in Denver, CO where he lives with his wife Stephanie. He is a graduate of Criswell College and plans to pursue a Master of Divinity at Denver Seminary in the fall of 2012. 

Driving down the road I often find myself reading the signs on the side of the highway. As I look into the distance I can see a sign coming into view, butI cannot distinguish the message it is trying to convey. From afar it appears to say one thing, but as I drive closer it says something completely different. Biblical exegesis and interpretation is often times no different; a difficult text may appear to say one thing “from afar” but when we look at the context, thoroughly study it, and understand the author’s original meaning, we see the passage for what it really says and means. 1 Peter 3:21 is no different. The text reads as such: “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” At first glance this passage appears to mean that baptism brings salvation. With a bit of study I hope to help us, myself included, understand the true meaning behind this difficult text.

Context: The letter of first Peter has been characterized in the past as a baptismal liturgy, a view that has since been discarded. The letter has only one explicit reference to baptism, with only a few implicit references to baptism. The one explicit reference comes in chapter 3 and verse 21. The passage actually closely follows another controversial passage, 3:19-20. A reference to Noah and the “eight persons who were brought safely through the water,” sets up our verse. As a whole, chapter 3 is about godly living and the possibility of suffering for righteousness sake (3:14), ending with a proclamation of everything being subjected to Jesus, as a result of His resurrection. Continue reading →

Difficult Bible Passages Series: What does it mean that Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison” in 1 Peter 3:19?

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Posted by Zach

One of the most confusing passages I’ve ever read comes from 1 Peter 3:18-20 (ESV). It reads as follows:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

What they heck is going on here?!

There are several different interpretations of this passage. Let me first give you three less probable interpretations before we look at the one I believe to be correct:

1. Christ is offering those who are lost a “second chance” to repent and believe the gospel.

2. Jesus is proclaiming the victory of his gospel to fallen angels or Old Testament saints.

3. Jesus is proclaiming the victory of his gospel to unbelievers in hell. Continue reading →

Why Supporting Homosexuality Doesn’t Support Homosexuals

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Posted by Zach

Jesus loves gay people. I mean, he really loves them. In fact, he loves them enough to be tortured for them. He loves them enough to die for them.

We as Christians are to love gay people too.

I was watching an interview recently with a prominent evangelical pastor and the host of the interview was hostile toward the pastor because he believed that homosexuality was sinful and unbiblical. The host of the interview saw herself as someone “enlightened” and believed that, because this man didn’t support homosexuality then he must therefore hate homosexuals. She believed that she was actually the one who best loved homosexuals by supporting their lifestyle.

But who really loves homosexuals in this situation? Continue reading →

Did You Hear About…?

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How will the new pope of the Egyptian Coptic Church be chosen?

The election of the next pope of the Coptic Church, the 118th since the Church was founded by St Mark the Evangelist at the beginning of the Christian era, will be held at the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo and will be chaired by the caretaker pope Bakhomious. The process will begin at 9am and last until 5pm and will be attended by a representative from the Ministry of Interior.

There is no quorum for the election, and once the votes have been counted the names of the three top candidates will be announced. The Sunday following the elections, a procedure will be held at St Mark’s Church in Cairo to choose the next pope from among the three top candidates. Their names will be placed on the altar, and after mass a blindfolded child will pick one of the names. The name of the person picked will become the next pope of the Coptic Church.

If you’ve ever wondered where coffee came from…

In the Ethiopian highlands, where the legend of Kaldi, the goatherd, originated, coffee trees grow today as they have for centuries. Though we will never know with certainty, there probably is some truth to the Kaldi legend.

It is said that he discovered coffee after noticing that his goats, upon eating berries from a certain tree, became so spirited that they did not want to sleep at night.

Kaldi dutifully reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery who made a drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours of evening prayer.  Soon the abbot had shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and ever so slowly knowledge of the energizing effects of the berries began to spread.  As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian peninsula, it began a journey which would spread its reputation across the globe.

What “Hollywood” Used to Be:

Difficult Bible Passage Series: Two Assassination Plots

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Posted by Daisy

My difficult passage comes from the book of Judges, which makes sense because the book of Judges is itself pretty difficult. If not difficult it is certainly depressing. The passage is the story of Jael and her famous tent peg. Let me set the scene for you.

The children of Israel had done evil in the sight of the Lord, so he sold them into the hand of Jabin, King of Canaan. Deborah was sitting under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, judging the people. She encouraged Barak to deploy the troops against Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, promising him that the Lord would ensure their victory. Barak was a wee bit unsure of Deborah’s plan, so he requested she come along, which made her answer, “Fine, I’ll come but the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman and she will get the glory.” Things didn’t look very promising for Israel; their enemies had 900 chariots and were a well outfitted army. But that had never stopped the Lord before, and this time he “routed” Sisera and his chariots which caused Sisera to disembark and flee on foot. Now, unless you’re Elijah, this doesn’t seem to be a very sensible method of departure, but he was desperate and had a plan. He fled to the tent of Heber the Kenite because there was peace between his household and the King. Jael came out to meet him, calm his fear, invite him into her tent, offer him milk and something to hide under, and went quietly to him after he had fallen asleep and drove a tent peg into his temple. Continue reading →

Difficult Bible Passage Series: What Does it Mean to be Born of Water in John 3?

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Posted by Zach

In the book of John, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus on the importance of being born again. Jesus emphasizes how one must be born from above if they are to enter the Kingdom of God. Now, all Christians believe that you must have the Holy Spirit whom is received through faith in Jesus to be saved. The confusion arises further down in the passage. In John 3:5 (ESV) a very curious little phrase is added to Jesus’ discussion:

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

The question is, what does the phrase “born of water” mean in the context of this passage? There are three main interpretations. Continue reading →

Future Christians

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Posted by Jamin

We recently celebrated my son’s first birthday (insert some version of the “time flies” cliche). As we prepared for his party, my responsibility was putting together a slideshow of his life thus far, both in and outside the womb. As I browsed through hundreds (literally) of photos and videos, and re-lived the last several months of raising this human, I was struck by this reality:

Parenting is a future oriented endeavor.

So much of our activity as mom and dad is dictated by future events. From the first day we realized there was life growing inside my wife, we began to conduct our lives in anticipation of the birth event. We ate differently, planned differently, structured our house differently, all in light of a future date we eagerly looked to. This reality remains true even after our son was born. We feed, teach, discipline, our child with future milestones in mind, whether that be his first day of school, his wedding day, and even the day he celebrates the birth of his first child. This type of future oriented parenting in know way detracts from enjoying our son in the present. Just the opposite. The future goals we have for him informs our present life with him in such a way that it takes on even greater significance and enjoyment. Continue reading →