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Mark writes with a unique style compared to Jesus’ other biographers. He is usually more concise. Each event he chooses to record fits perfectly into his overall narrative. And he emphasizes ideas and situations with a curious device that many Markan scholars technically call a “sandwich.” A Markan sandwich consists of a story or account that gets interrupted by something else, then the original story resumes and concludes. The original story serves as the first piece of bread. The interruption…

I like to watch American Pickers, a show that follows antique dealers all over the country as they scour dilapidated barns and overstuffed homes for treasures they can buy and resell. The main picker, Mike Wolfe, often uses the phrase, “If you want something, the best time to buy is when you see it.” In other words, if you are looking for a rare item and you find it, you better buy it because the opportunity may not come again.…

Many metaphors help us relate to specific aspects of life. Paul talks about running a race, boxing, and wrestling. Jesus points to farming and nursing. James uses sailing. Each one points to a certain facet of life under the sun. However, one the bible does not use for obvious reasons is driving down the highway or cruising the autobahn. Life is a car going down the highway. The engine is purring as the tires grip the surface to propel us…

Its name is Trigger. No, not Roy Roger’s horse, but Willie Nelson’s guitar. The Texas country singer named his guitar after Roy’s horse, so there is a natural kinship between them. Willie has been playing Trigger since 1969. It has been with him for over 10,000 shows, 85 studio albums, and hundreds of thousands of miles. His pick has worn a sizable hole on the front of the guitar, and hundreds of people have signed their names on the guitar,…

Have you ever stepped on an old ant pile and watched it come to life? Millions of the tiny terrors emerge in an instant and start repairing their home. Holes are reopened. Structures rebuilt. Tunnels dug. It’s the hustle and bustle of taking care of what needs to be done. That’s what our University family has been like for the last couple of weeks Focal Point is coming, and many workers have come out of the woodwork to get things…

It signaled a seismic shift in world history, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation” (Gen. 12:1-2). With those words, God called his people— the children of Abraham—out of the world. The rest of the Old Testament chronicles the nation’s struggle for righteousness. God’s chosen nation was called Israel and it faced many trials. It endured slavery, rebellion, listlessness,…

As the first century was coming to a close all of the New Testament books were completed except for the Johannine corpus. His writings were likely not produced until 85-96. By then some uninspired writings started appearing as well. While not inspired, these early writings paint a picture of the church at the end of the first century and beginning of the second century. Some writers appear to be trying to shape the church or steer it in new directions.…

A couple of years ago, Don Lemon, a journalist and CNN news anchor, appeared on The View, a daytime talk show. The interview welcomed Lemon into an arena of adoring fans where they discussed his book on race relations and his thoughts about the Catholic Church not blessing same sex marriage since he is a practicing homosexual married to another man. Lemon’s foray into theology revealed both his arrogance and ignorance to a degree seldom seen before. Lemon crossed the…

The gun shots are still echoing from the halls of Covenant School in Nashville. Innocent lives have been stolen and all those connected to them are turned upside down. Mothers and fathers will never hug those children again. Teachers will never impart another lesson to them. Our nation rightly mourns in sackcloth and ashes as we collectively embrace a heartbroken community. Instinctively, we wonder what can we do? Or more precisely, how can we stop mass shootings in our communities…

Often, we hear critics claims the bible is unreliable of the Bible. They point to contradictions and textual variations between manuscripts. Such disparaging the word of God is anathema. However, honesty demands Christians be aware the claims, and be ready to give answer. We don’t have to be textual critics, but we cannot be ignorant. In this article, I want to look at the textual variant claim and examine an example. What is a textual variant? There are thousands of…

From the 4th century BC, Athens had been the cultural center of the western world. Many classical philosophers started schools in Athens, including Zeno, the father of Stoicism. Born in 342 BC, Zeno arrived in Athens about 313, and taught in the Stoá Poikílē or painted porch of Athens (Stoic is derived from stoa, Greek for porch). By 294, Zeno had established the school of the Stoics. In the 2nd century BC, stoicism was carried to Rome by Panætius of…

Philosophy is the love of wisdom. As Christians, we sometimes view philosophy as a tool of the devil. In fact, Paul urged, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col 2:8). However, such a simplistic dismissal of philosophy is foolish. Understanding the basics of philosophy helps us better understand the Bible and the culture out of…