I delivered the following sermon at Tri-County Bible Church in Madison, Ohio, pastored by my longtime, respected friend Joe Tyrpak. Watch or read. Or both. Or neither. It's ok.It’s a distinct honor to serve you today. I have known your pastor since I was 16 or 17...
Why My Church Has Closed
I am an extremely minor public figure, sort of semi-public. Sort of like the Richard Dean Anderson of redheaded Christian YouTubers. The guy you sort of think maybe you’ve heard of, but you can’t place him. So I need to make a small semi-public statement about the...
Identity: A Biblical Worldview of Yourself (Part 1: Cultural Analysis)
I delivered the following talk during the Sunday school hour at Tri-County Bible Church in Madison, Ohio, pastored by my longtime, respected friend Joe Tyrpak. Watch or read. Or both. Or neither—and skip to the end for some book recommendations.Today in Sunday school...
Great Quote from Timothy George
Timothy George in his Galatians commentary in the NAC: The fact that this word [Abba] is given here [in Gal 4:6], and also in Rom 8:15, in both Aramaic and Greek indicates the bilingual character of early Christian worship. Throughout the history of the church various...
Answer a Fool According to His Folly, or Answer Not?
I want to talk through a super common issue on the internet. I invite your wisdom and input; I also invite your prayer. Because I want and need—desperately need—divine wisdom for whether and how to answer all kinds of internet comments from all kinds of strangers with...
A Jot of My Thoughts on My Dissertation, a Decade On
I basically finished my dissertation a decade ago. Paul’s Positive Religious Affections. It’s available on Kindle and print-on-demand just in case anyone wants it. In it I basically argued that Paul is meant to be a model in his affections and not just in his theology...
Did Evangelical Snowflakes Censor the Bible?
Salon.com recently published an interview with sociologist Samuel L. Perry titled, “When Evangelical Snowflakes Censor the Bible: The English Standard Version Goes PC.” And I got a reply to all this: Nuh-uh! Let me elaborate that answer, however, because “nuh-uh”...
Review: The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing by Jonathan Pennington
The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary, by Jonathan Pennington (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018).I've been using this book as my main helper while preaching very slowly (because very occasionally) through the Sermon on the Mount....
Review: Small Preaching by Jonathan Pennington
Small Preaching: 25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Become a Better Preacher, by Jonathan Pennington (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021). Very few pp.Great little title. Punchy and short. Genuinely full of wisdom. The three things that stood out to me most: The very...
THE INCREDI-NASB!!!! More Literal than a Speeding ESV!!!
In my other life, I am the editor of Faithlife’s Bible Study Magazine, and one of my first acts as editor was to give myself a column: “Word Nerd: Language and the Bible.” They said I could. I also turn all the columns—plus a few that aren’t in print—into YouTube...