Friday's Catch: 'Christ Became a Curse for Us' and More

Jesus Became a Curse for Us

One image, one aspect, of the atonement has receded in our day almost into obscurity. We have been made aware of present-day attempts to preach a more gentle and kind gospel. In our effort to communicate the work of Christ more kindly we flee from any mention of a curse inflicted by God upon his Son. We shrink in horror from the words of the prophet Isaiah (chap. 53) that describe the ministry of the suffering servant of Israel and tells us that it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Read More

What Hour Was Jesus Crucified? Resolving an Apparent Bible Contradiction

According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was crucified on the “third hour” (Mark 15:25). The Gospel of John, however, says Pilate sentenced Jesus to crucifixion on “about the sixth hour” (John 19:14). In a book I worked on with Andreas Köstenberger and Alexander Stewart, we addressed what is going on here and why this is not a contraction. Read More

Want to Know Jesus More? Read the Old Testament

To the extent that we ignore or downplay the Old Testament, we denigrate the very Bible that Jesus himself read. In fact, these are not only the Scriptures from which he preached and taught, but they tell us all about him. Read More

How To Engineer An Effective Rehearsal

Terrible rehearsals don’t have to be the norm. Engineering a great rehearsal is a relatively small, easy, immediate next step that worship pastors can take, making a massive difference. Read More

Why Discipleship is Best Done In Groups (Not One-on-One)

When it comes to discipleship, one of the assumptions many people make is that we’re talking about one-on-one meetings over coffee, but I think discipleship is better done in groups, where several people gather to meet with a leader to walk through the discipleship process. This is how our coaching is organized, and how we train leaders to make disciples in their local context, and there’s a reason for it! Read More

True Tolerance Opens the Door for All to Share Their Beliefs, Including Christians

Sometimes culture makes it difficult, but there are aspects of culture that are quite conducive to evangelism. Read More