"In the beginning God..."—Unlike the pagan gods of antiquity, the God of the Bible is revealed as the God of history, not only as the eternal and infinite God but also as the Creator and Governor of the time-space world. This God purposed, from his eternal counsels (Jn 17:5, 24; Eph 1:4; 1 Pet 1:20; Rev 13:8), to bring together – in the fullness of the times (i.e. in history) – … [Read more...]
Reality & the Inescapable God: Foundations in Christian Worldview
The Inescapable God “… we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter” Isa 28:15 – Part 2 of 3 – An Inescapable Reality The foundation of any worldview is its view of origins. What a person accepts as ultimate will shape everything else. The biblical worldview is grounded in its doctrine of creation, which, in contrast to naturalism’s … [Read more...]
The Pauline Correspondence: Its Mode & Message
Part 3 of 3 In Parts 1 & 2 we discovered that Paul's call and commission, as the pioneer apostle to the Gentiles, was unique and normative for the church universally. We will now explore these implications for the apostolic mode and message. Mode As the pioneer – and thus proto-type – apostle to the Gentiles Paul modelled God's strategy for the expansion of the Gospel … [Read more...]
One Church of the City – The Dwelling of God
Do you not discern and understand that you (the whole church at Corinth) are God's temple ... ? 1 Corinthians 3:16 AMP God's purpose has always been to dwell with men. From the beginning of time to its culmination – from Eden to the New Jerusalem – this has been his singular desire. In the Garden, it was God's habit to come down and commune with the first human community, … [Read more...]
The Corporate Christ
... the church, which is his body the fullness of him … Ephesians 1:23 Unity is not what we think it is! And, for that matter, neither is the church. We think that if we have cooperation between the churches we have unity. Or, if we tolerate the differences of the other group we are making great strides. But the unity of the Spirit is so much more than mere cooperation or … [Read more...]