Occasionally our good Trinitarian friends point to Bible verses that seem to describe God with plural pronouns (verses like "let us make man in our image"). Then they use these plural pronouns to teach that God is more than one person. They believe these plural pronouns support the Trinity doctrine, which teaches that God is…
Sometimes a translation difference can have massive implications for our theology. Take Hebrews 1:8 for example. Today we are going to examine how this verse should be translated, and why. The way that we translate the original Greek text of Hebrews 1:8 greatly influences what we teach concerning the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Compare…
I admit the title of this post might be a little shocking. I can hear the murmuring now: "What do you mean there is no such thing as a music minister?? I'm a music minister! Don't you think worship is important?? Don't you think worship leaders are important?? How can you possibly say there is no…
A few days ago I was having a Bible study with some of my friends from church. As we were going through the lesson, an interesting conversation started about the unique role of ministering/preaching in the church---and about how it is different from the role of music/worship, or any other aspect of serving in the…
As of today (1-22-19) I have been married to my best friend for seven months. I know that every young couple says these sorts of things, but she truly is my best friend and I love her so. Since the day we were married, living life with Cheyanne has taught me so many things about…
As we stand on the threshold of a new year, we tend to wax philosophic. We think about the circle of the year; we think about the steady hourglass of time. We think about all of resolutions we meant to accomplish, but never seemed to have the time. We intended to achieve our goals, but…
In a Facebook forum that I belong to, one of the members asked this question: since all Christian doctrines are important, which ones are essential for our theology and preaching? Below is my list of six essential doctrines of the Christian Faith. 1) salvation by grace alone through faith alone, via the atoning work of…
The title is a mouth-full, I know. But several days ago the Lord began to deal with me about some foundational principles of worship, and these three words were the best descriptions I could think of. If we can understand these three components, it will revolutionize our worship. As someone who has been raised in…
The other day as I was reading 2 Corinthians I noticed a powerful parallel that sheds some light (pun intended, as you'll see) on how we understand God's nature. When I saw this connection, it was a revelatory moment that strengthened my understanding of "the mighty God in Christ." As an introduction, some people may…
We tend to idealize the great apostle Paul: he saved many souls, wrote a big chunk of our New Testament, did great things for the kingdom of God. But we also need to understand that things were often terrible for Paul. Of the many things that he suffered, Paul was beaten by the Jews five times…
Lectionary 