Jesus’s Ascension: A High Point for Hope

On the announcement slides at church on Sunday, my sister included one informing everyone that next Sunday is “Ascension Sunday”. My initial reaction was “Huh? Oh yeah, that’s right”. Because a lot of churches tend to energetically focus on Easter Sunday and its surrounding weeks’ worth of activities, and then Pentecost Sunday just fifty days …

Palm Sunday: Parading God’s Politics

With Palm Sunday approaching, I wanted to revisit the text and try to craft a conversation that could capture the nature of the event unfolding in that moment. And to make sure that we’re all clear from the start, I’m just going to give you the thematic points now: The presence of the King The …

Christian baptism as kingdom naturalization (Part One)

Naturalization is a legal process whereby a citizen of one country can gain citizenship of another. In the United States, this process requires meeting specific criteria like filing applications, undergoing interviews and tests, paying fees, pledging allegiance, and can take a considerable amount of time to achieve. But for those who endure the process, at …

Jesus above the powers

Many years ago I was awakened by an early morning phone call. Barack Obama had been reelected President just days earlier. A polite but professional woman on the other end was calling to ask me if I would be interested in participating in a post-election focus group. She said it would pay $100. Since the …

Why this season?

I was on the phone with a church member recently and she asked me why I think we’re going through this season. This was something along the lines of my reply. I really don’t know. I am in no position to answer that. Conspiracy theorists will no doubt have opinions on the matter, as will …

God’s ultimate power-move

Upon hearing WrestleMania 35 was happening this evening, my mind recalled many childhood memories spent watching pro wrestling. Some of the most exciting moments occurred when a wrestler applied his power-move to finish off his opponent. Some of the most memorable power moves were Hulk Hogan’s leg drop, Ultimate Warrior’s body splash, Randy Savage’s elbow …

What are spiritual gifts?—(1 Corinthians 12:1-7)

From the outset of 1 Corinthians 12, the primary text on spiritual gifts, Paul does not actually use the word gifts. In v1, gifts is implied as the noun possibly being described by the adjective spiritual, as if Paul were saying “I don’t want you to be ignorant about those things or realities that take …

Avoiding the sin of David’s census in the Church

During a recent discipling session, I was asked why King David’s census was a sin. Dissatisfied with the answer I gave, I chose to reexamine the passage for deeper clarity. Before reading 2 Samuel 24, the text regarding David’s census, I suggest reading Exodus 19:3-6, Deuteronomy 17:14-20, and 1 Samuel 8, which I briefly summarize …