How to Choose an English Bible Translation, Part 1
What a blessing it is to have many English Bible translations from which to choose. Not too long ago there were none, and attempts to translate the Bible into English were met with severe persecution (read about William Tyndale, for example). So when we are faced with...
Seeking Excellence? Don’t Start With “Why, Start With “Who”
In seeking to identify the seeds of excellence, there is a popular device (the Golden Circle) that traces the beginnings of excellence back to the question Why? In this model, we could critique a more common alternative of beginning with the outcome (the What) and...
The Parables of Jesus as Metaphor: Considering the Mustard Seed of Matthew 13:31-32
In considering the parables of Jesus, there are a few contextual concepts we need to understand about Jesus’ presentations in Matthew’s Gospel. First, after Jesus was rejected in Matthew 12 He spoke in public often using parables. His purpose in doing so was...
“The most effective leadership, management, and efficiency models share traits common with each other, and traits that are ultimately traceable to the pages of the Bible. While these models are often not intentionally rooted in Biblical concepts by those that promote the models, the models illustrate how applying Biblical principles can set a trajectory of success in enterprise and in life. Led By a Lion is designed to introduce some of these leadership, management, and efficiency models, but goes a step further in identifying the Biblical genesis of many of the core traits that fuel the success of these models.”
Does the Biblical God Exist?
A brief examination of Scripture will unveil, in particular, the central assumption of the existence of God (Gen. 1:1, Ps. 14:1, etc.). Never does Scripture seek to prove His existence; rather it presents His reality as the foundational starting point of Biblical...
The Central Question of Christianity: Is Jesus Still Dead?
Whether or not Jesus rose from the dead is perhaps the most important question in determining the truth of Biblical Christianity. As Paul put it, “if Christ has not been raised from the dead…then your faith also is vain” (1 Cor 15:14). He adds that if Jesus hasn’t...
SWOT Analysis, the Bible, and Personal Growth
SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The analytical tool has been in use for around fifty years, and while some attribute the origin of the SWOT analysis to Stanford Research Institute’s Albert Humphrey, because he doesn’t take...
“This approach has the advantage of seeking to view all knowledge through the lens of Scripture, and to subject all knowledge to the authority of Scripture. It encourages science and research within the field of psychology. It offers a Biblical balance of description and prescription. Of course, if the Bible is unreliable, then the refractive power of Scripture is distortive rather than corrective, but the epistemological premise of this approach is that God’s word is authoritative and sufficient for our understanding, for our equipping, and for our practice. There are many extra-biblical resources that we can employ, but in seeking out how and when to do that, we mustn’t lose sight of the one reliable constant that God has provided for us – the Bible.” –Chapter 9
How to Grow as a Person
A Google search of the phrase “how to grow as a person” (or even just “grow as a person”) reveals 520 million related links. For points of reference, let’s look at the results of some other popular Google searches: “how to make money” 426 million, “world peace”...
How Can I Know God?
How can I know God? Paul’s Letter to the Romans tells the important true story about who we are, what we need, and what God has done for us. Paul writes that “There is none righteous not even one…there is none who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). We have all...
Kaizen and the Biblical Model for Continuous Improvement
Kaizen means improvement, or literally, good change. Identified by author Masaaki Imai as “the key to Japanese competitive success,”[1] kaizen is the philosophy undergirding continuous improvement at every level of the organization, and involving all personnel. As a...
“The Green Tree is an exceptional work…provides a vital tool for every Bible interpreter…Just as the root system is the foundation of a tree and directly impacts the health of a tree, hermeneutic method is at the root of one’s worldview. This illustration demonstrates that the hermeneutic method that an interpreter of the Bible employs will significantly affect the outcome. The tree will either be healthy, or it will not be healthy…The authors provide a unique examination of Revelation, Genesis, and Job that demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is derived from within Scripture, something that other hermeneutical methods fail to demonstrate. This is perhaps the most crucial principle demonstrated in The Green Tree, and it effectively demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is also the Biblical hermeneutic.” – Andrew Friend (Amazon Review)
Review of Integrating Exegesis and Exposition, by Rubén de Rus
By Rubén de Rus, published at Resources for Ministry/Recursos Ministeriales. There are many books in the Christian market that cover exegetical issues and many others that cover biblical exposition. But there are few books in the market that provide readers with a...
The Impact of Redacted Dominionism on Birth Control and Killing Animals
The common interpretation that the Genesis creation account grants humankind a lasting and comprehensive dominion over creation has been critiqued as being destructively man-centered.[1] To such critics anthropocentrism seems not to offer much promise for a positive,...
The Daniel 9 Prophetic Calendar
Daniel chapter nine finds Daniel examining the prophet Jeremiah’s declarations of a seventy-year exile (Jer. 25:14, 29:10), and responding humbly to the Lord in prayer, as the time of the exile was drawing to a close. The personal humility that Daniel demonstrates in...
Racism Is a Symptom That Can Be Overcome
In 1946 Democratic Senator Theodore Bilbo wrote a tragic book entitled Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization, which argued for purity of the races. He suggested that both black and white should wish to maintain segregation in order to protect their distinct...
10 Lessons on Teaching: From Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Part 2
In the first article we looked at the first five of ten lessons learned from fifteen students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who wrote a response to published essays in the New York Times and Slate, which focused on approaches to lecturing. Now we...
10 Lessons on Teaching: From Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Part 1
Recently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, fifteen students in a writing course taught by Professor Catherine Prendergast wrote a response to published essays in the New York Times and Slate, which focused on approaches to lecturing. The response of...
4 Basic Steps For Growing Biblical Understanding
What Does Romans Say About… (Part 1)
A downloadable PDF presentation on theological topics in the Book of Romans. Part 1 briefly considers the doctrines of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit
Genesis Overview (Synthesis)
A downloadable PDF overview of the Book of Genesis.
John’s Gospel Through Three Lenses
A downloadable PDF highlighting some important themes in John's Gospel, from three vantage points (synthesis, exegesis, analysis).