The Gospel of Penitentiary Christianity
The transformational power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not negotiable in Penitentiary Christianity.
It’s a funny thing when you first realize that a lot of Bible teaching and imagery you used to think was literary and metaphorical turns out to be truly true. It reminds me of the hucksters of the god “Tash” in C.S.Lewis’ The Last Battle, who thought they had made up “Tash” to exploit the ignorant masses - only to discover he was real and about to devour them.
When one is smashed against the “bottom” of life’s bucket, the Gospel is more than mere words and theories; it is transformational. This truth should force some pretty serious questions concerning the life we live at the “top” of the bucket and the Gospel expressed and lived therein. Is the Gospel the transformational power of God at the top of the bucket too? It should be!
An Authority Recreated in Gentleness is Peace
Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Read More »
A Revelation for the Little Children
Matthew 11: 25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will …”
The point of the above scripture is not an indictment of education or knowledge, any more than it is an indictment of age. Jesus does say that God revealed the revelation of Jesus Christ to “little children,” but the disciples were not little children, in the literal sense of the word. They were, however, “like little children” in that they were more than willing and ready to admit their total dependency upon God. They were willing and ready to follow Jesus’ teaching. The wise and understanding from whom God hides the revelation of Jesus Christ are those who deem themselves self-sufficient, super wise, and above any need for God. These are the ones who do not see Christ’s revelation; these are the ones from whom God withholds it. The little children who do see it are those who depend upon God and are willing to be taught. To them, God freely reveals all. Read More »
Luke’s Pragmatic Attribution of the Term Savior
The Lukan reference to Jesus of Nazareth as ‘Savior’ has more to do with the later Christian community’s need for eschatological reconsideration than the author’s Christological perception. Read More »
Jesus and Conflict in a Proclamation of God’s Reign
Jesus of Nazareth’s public life and ministry were burdened with an absurd amount of conflict because of his incredible commitment to an ideological view of God and God’s place in a life wherein social, political, and religious aspects were inseparably fused. The final climax of this conflict - Jesus’ crucifixion - can be seen in all four canonical Gospels (Matt. 27.35; Mk. 15.24; Lk. 23.33; Jn. 19.18). The multiple layers and deep dynamics characteristic of the conflict leading up to this quadruple Gospel attestation are, however, most vividly displayed in the Gospel of Mark. Read More »
Professor Dwight Sheets on WWJD
“It is the fact that we really don’t know what Jesus would have done in any given situation because he so often did things we wouldn’t expect. In some cases he did the purely unacceptable.”
Dr. Dwight Sheets
A Tale of Two Meals
Setting: Jesus’ Table Meals vs. Religious Broker’s Table Meals. These meals clashed at Simon the Pharisee’s House (See: Luke 7). In this story we find a 1st century religious elitist named Simon extending a shared meal invitation to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus accepts, and journey to Simon’s house.
I can easily imagine Jesus facing his inner-circle of friends and trying to explain why he can’t join them at the evening meal, as originally planned. Read More »
Trinity as Model for Church Community
Jesus’ prayer in the 17th chapter of John’s Gospel is that we would be as one. Unity! Let’s put this prayer in perspective. Jesus and his disciples gather in a small upper room. They gather there for one purpose: to share the Passover meal. They sing a few songs together, praise God, pray a lot, eat, and drink their wine. During this meal, Jesus institutes our sacrament of the Last Supper. He also washes the feet of the disciples. Jesus, after they finish with all of this, prays the John 17 prayer.
Jesus either prays this prayer right there in the room, upon completion of the other events shared, or he prays it as they walk towards the Garden of Gethsamene, where he prays some more while the disciples pass out under a tree from too much Passover wine. Jesus knows what is coming. He knows he’s going to be arrested, tried, and killed. How important is this prayer for unity in light of this foreknowledge? Seriously! Jesus, knowing full well death is imminent, prays first that these disciples find unity; the same unity that he shares with the Father. Read More »
You are Treating Jesus like a Commodity
“… I worry that those you entice to following Jesus at your event, will start off with such a skewed picture of what this Jesus character is about that they will never really be able to see clearly the real Jesus we meet in the gospels.”
Ariah Fine
The Difficult Parable of the Dishonest Manager
A recent chat with friends regarding peaceful, non-violent resistance of cultural norms led to one of the most difficult parables taught by Jesus. Luke 16:1-9 has stumped and mystified interpreters for years, if not centuries. Some argue that the real meaning of this parable is lost to us forever; others point to Jesus’ overarching penchant for non-violent subversion as the key that unlocks the real meaning and intention of this parable. Given the social, political, and religious setting in which Jesus was situated, I tend to side with those who cite subversion. Read More »
