June 19th, 2007 by Matt Sutton
Quiet moments of nostalgia seem to grow proportionately with age. I suppose this makes sense. As we grow older, we certainly have more memories from which to choose as starting points for our little excursions; assuming, of course, we’re not so old we can only remember that we use to be able to remember. As believers, though, we all know our hope squarely rests in the future, not in the past. Therefore, the continual “living in the past” that marks the ways of many suffering unbelievers will not characterize our lives. Nonetheless, even spiritual trips down memory lane seem normal, and perhaps also potentially helpful if our memories are viewed in the proper manner. (more…)
June 14th, 2007 by Geoff Volker
I love email and the freedom it gives me to quickly communicate with folks around the world. But…I have become increasingly aware that email can be a coward’s way out. Let me explain what I mean by this. Email is an effective way to communicate information and I doubt that anyone would disagree with this, but it can be a very poor medium of communication for resolving interpersonal problems. (more…)
June 6th, 2007 by Bradley Hagan
It seems like I have heard a lot of talk lately about how bad television is for you. The attitude often being that if you have the choice to do anything besides watch TV, then by all means do it. However, like any other of God’s gifts, TV can be greatly profitable if used wisely. So, what is wisely? Some would say that a few channels like the History or the Discovery are somewhat beneficial, but even time dedicated to these should be in strict moderation. But what about the Sci-Fi channel? Can anything of value possibly come from there? It can if it starts with the phrase “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”! (more…)
January 19th, 2007 by Geoff Volker
The following is a set of notes that Geoff just finished that I thought might be helpful in explaining how to teach theology or at least how we approach teaching theology, that is, our methodology. These are just notes, so if you have questions, please ask me to clarify or expand. (more…)
December 5th, 2006 by Geoff Volker
Here is the next installment of the conference notes by Geoff Volker. How would you teach through Old Covenant case law? How do we handle those important and inspired parts of Scripture today? Check out Geoff’s answer. (more…)
December 4th, 2006 by Geoff Volker
Our conference begins tomorrow and goes the rest of the week. The topic is New Covenant Hermeneutics. I have already posted my notes and thoughts on the subject as it relates to interpreting the prophets and typology. The rest of this week I will be posting notes done by Geoff Volker and Mike Feather. Today I am posting Geoff’s notes on handling Old Testament Narrative. We all love the stories of the Old Testament but they can be rather difficult to teach on without moralizing or becoming fanciful in our application in the New Covenant era. In these notes, Geoff has attempted to give us some clear guidance on how to apply Old Testament narratives in a way that honors God and encourages His people. (more…)
August 19th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
James 1:2-4 says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Historically, I must admit, I’ve basically blown off this verse. I would never admit this to fellow believers, but deep down the idea of having a perspective of “pure joy” when facing a trial seemed like complete nonsense to me. I rationalized the verse away by assuming that perhaps James was just simply using hyperbole to make a point. Maybe we shouldn’t curse God when facing trials of many kinds. I can buy that, but have joy; better yet, have pure joy? Right. (more…)
July 24th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
Let’s play a little hypothetical game and assume for the moment that you are a real believer sure of your salvation. Not only are you sure, but other folks, for whom you respect, see evidence in your life and think your salvation is a pretty sure thing too. So with that detail out of the way, let’s move on and next assume that in your heart you have a real desire to be used by the Lord. Hopefully this is not a huge hypothetical leap for you! Now, the question is, how do we go about being “used” by the Lord? (Please bear in mind that I am in no way trying to trivialize salvation by relegating it to a mere “detail”. However, for the sake of this blog, certainly you will agree that salvation is, by definition, a profoundly obvious prerequisite.) (more…)
June 19th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
Several years ago my father began to have difficulty swallowing. He didn’t experience any pain, or at least he didn’t communicate it to me if he did, but he described his experience with swallowing as being similar to eating a peanut butter sandwich really fast with no glass of milk to wash it down. He said it felt like everything he ate was sticking in his throat and no amount of effort would make it go down. He wasn’t just imagining this, however. An examination by our family physician revealed that he had developed esophageal cancer. (more…)
April 13th, 2006 by Matt Sutton
When I was in college, I tried to memorize a whole bunch of different Bible verses. I made it most of the way through my list, but unfortunately each verse was memorized in isolation. Not to take anything away from memorizing Scripture, but in my case, the effort at the time was probably more an act of spiritual bravado than anything else. The real goal was to get through the list. One of the verses on my list was Galatians 2:20. I ended up memorizing it alright, but at the time I wasn’t really sure what Paul was saying. What did “being crucified with Christ” mean? I’d like to explore Galatians 2:17-21 and list a few thoughts I have regarding what Paul might be trying to communicate. Undoubtedly, however, many of you have far greater hermeneutical skills than I, and therefore its your job to set me straight if I’m missing something. Let me present the NIV version of the text and then give you a few thoughts: (more…)
Category :
2 Comments » 
Posts
