May 25, 2022
Jesus' coming, contrary to so much bumper-stickery blather out there, was anything but peaceful. He came to do battle. Significantly, that battle was against "e"lohim who rule the nations. Jesus rejoiced as the 70 he sent out in his name drove out demons. And he enjoins our service in the Marine Corps of the Spirit to...
May 18, 2022
Christians say, "we want to do it the way the New Testament shows us to do it." Or more earnestly, "we want to do it the way Jesus said to govern." So just what do history and the New Testament show us? I work through three standard churchly models—episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational—to think with nuance...
May 11, 2022
Jesus, "you nailed that one, Peter! And on this rock I will build my Church." There is a long-standing Roman Catholic interpretation of that as well as an established Protestant interpretation of that seminal verse. In light of the Paleo-Hebrew worldview is it possible that Jesus' assertion meant something still...
May 4, 2022
Jesus, freshly baptized in the Spirit of God, was driven out into enemy territory: unholy Bashan. In a state of hungry privation he battled the Nachash who offered Jesus something that would've belonged to him as God's messiah: the nations. Jesus won those battles by quoting the Bible; we all know that. But what part...