A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. -Sir Fred Hoyle

We're all Jacobs dressed in the clothing of our older brother, Jesus, to obtain the inheritance of the Father. - Chad Bird

“You will be an incomplete Christian if you do not look forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ.” -McCheyne

"All exegesis is, is reading the text to find out what's there." -D.A. Carson

Theology 101: I don’t long for the end of this age but for the beginning of the next. I don’t hope for escape from this world but for this world’s release from its bondage to corruption. I’m not eagerly anticipating dying and going to heaven but bodily resurrection. - Dr. Michael Svigel

"We have what may be called a standing miracle continually before our eyes; I mean the state of the Jews, who, though dispersed far and wide among many nations, are every where preserved a distinct and separate people. The history of the world affords no other instance of the like kind. The great monarchies, by which they were successively conquered and scattered, have successively perished. Only the names of them remain. But the people whom they despised, and endeavored to exterminate, subsist to this day; and, though sifted like corn over the earth, and apparently forsaken of God, are still preserved by his wonderful providence, unaffected by the changes and customs around them; still tenacious of the law of Moses, though the observance of it is rendered impracticable. Many days, many ages they have lived as the prophets foretold they should, without a temple, without sacrifice or priest. (Hos. 3:4-5) As yet, many Heathen nations are permitted to walk in their own ways. But at length "the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved." (Rom. 11:25-26) The revolutions and commotions in kingdoms and nations, which astonish and perplex politicians, are all bringing forward this great event."

(Works of John Newton, Volume IV, Sermon XXXII.)

-Via BA Purtle

The age of scientific materialism is over. There's a new interest in the supernatural. Without guardrails and good theology, this will lead to some really dark places. - Jeremy Boreing 

Can blasphemy be committed against a mere man?

"Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him...and they said many other things against him, blaspheming him." - Luke 22:63–65

-Matt Damico 

Pauline cessationism:

The charismata described in 1 Cor. 12-14 (and other relative passages) will cease “when the perfect comes,” when we see “face to face,” when we “know fully” — that is, in the future resurrection. - BA Purtle

The Spirit's work, in all of its forms, is to keep disciples on the path of life in anticipation of the judgment and coming Kingdom. We need the Spirit’s work—all of it. Despite how they may have been presented to you previously, miracles are intended to serve the same purpose. The conviction of sin, the encouragement, the revelation of the Spirit; these all serve the exact same purpose as signs and wonders. The Spirit is simply trying to turn our attention to what matters—the fact that God will judge the world, the dead will be raised, and some will be raised to life and others to destruction. - Bill Scofield, The Spirit and the Enduring Need for Divine Empowerment.

Signs are intended to stir our faith, but they are temporary. You don’t need a sign indicating that you are on the right path to the Grand Canyon, once you are standing in the Grand Canyon. A sign, by nature, is not the anticipated object of our hope. It is a powerful reminder that we should continue in the path. In this age signs serve as a reminder of the world to come. - Bill Scofield, The Spirit and the Enduring Need for Divine Empowerment.

Jewish faith, just like early Christian faith, is constantly forward looking. The resurrection and the Kingdom of God have always had center stage in discussions of Jewish eschatology. The hope of eternal life is the primary motivator for devotion to God, for denying the flesh, and for living lives of integrity before Him. The more material the hope, the greater the ability to walk in these virtues. Within this context, miraculous phenomena not only take on new meaning, but are also transformed into a vital part of discipleship rather than a tangential one. “Signs” are not miraculous events arbitrarily ‘pointing to God’. Signs are proof that God is able to do the exact things he said he would in the Torah and the Prophets. - Bill Scofield, The Spirit and the Enduring Need for Divine Empowerment.

The slick environment of many Pentecostal/Charismatic churches has a not-so-subtle way of endearing congregants to the stage and to those who occupy it. God certainly seemed to be doing and saying something. Yet, to my young self, it felt like God was doing miracles as an endorsement of the minister or of the church. As a young man, mostly a spectator to ministry, I found that some of these dynamics obscured what God was saying through the miraculous phenomena, and, ultimately, they left me indifferent to what God was saying. They were cool to experience but ultimately felt trivial. - Bill Scofield, The Spirit and the Enduring Need for Divine Empowerment.

My teaching from Luke 9 on the introduction to his late Perean and Judean ministry, the "travel narrative", and Samaritan resitance. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

Joshua 2: "Rahab the prostitute"

Matthew 1: "Rahab, the grandmother of the Messiah."

God has the redemptive capability to change labels and rewrite stories for his purposes and our better. - Wes Huff

The kingdom of heaven is not the church, and it’s not the heavenly afterlife. It’s not about going to heaven when you die.

Instead, the kingdom of heaven is the coming Messianic Era predicted by Moses and all the prophets. It’s a term from Jewish eschatology that describes the future utopian reign of the Messiah on earth. It’s not a heavenly realm or an unseen spiritual kingdom; it’s a literal king (the Messiah) who sits on a literal throne (the throne of David) in a literal city (Jerusalem), administering a literal kingdom (the kingdom of Israel). His kingdom is called “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God.” The prophets say that the kingdom will not be confined only to the land of Israel. The reign of the Messiah will expand to encompass the entire world and usher everyone into a global utopia of peace and spiritual revelation.  - DT Lancaster, Why Do You Not Do What I Say?

Without the Jewish framework to supply context, the teachings of Jesus often sound like strange, cryptic riddles. That creates a lot of ambiguity, which gets exploited to subvert the meaning of His teachings. When placed back into their natural habitat, however, the words of Jesus become clear, simple, and easy to understand. They aren’t riddles. It’s simple Jewish teaching about the coming kingdom, the urgency of repentance, the Day of the LORD, and the final redemption. - DT Lancaster, Why Do You Not Do What I Say?

The second reason that we don’t do what He says is that we don’t understand what He says. What Jesus said was said as a Jewish teacher to Jewish students living in the first-century Jewish world of Judea and Galilee. He taught in the language of the Jewish rabbis and teachers of His day and age. He used the same Scriptures, the same figures of speech, the same type of parables, and the same hermeneutical maneuvers as other Jewish teachers. When His words are read within the context of that type of Jewish literature, the teachings of Jesus are simple. They make solid sense. Outside of a Jewish context, not so much. - DT Lancaster, Why Do You Not Do What I Say?

However, the main reason we don’t do what He says is that we think we do know what He means, but we don’t. At almost every turn, we have been taught to explain His words to mean Christian things and not Jewish things. For example, we know that Jesus preaches the gospel, but we don’t know what that means. We assume that the gospel is the message about the cross, justification, and the afterlife. It’s not. The gospel is about the kingdom. We assume Jesus teaches an end to Judaism and the Old Testament Law. He doesn’t. He is a Jew practicing Judaism, talking about Jewish stuff. We redefine the kingdom of heaven as the church or, simply, as “going to heaven when you die.” The kingdom is neither of those things. - DT Lancaster, Why Do You Not Do What I Say?

Over forty times the Bible describes the Holy Spirit as creating, speaking, testifying, teaching, or forbidding, etc.

To deny His Personhood and deity is to deny the Bible and the Triune God who inspired it. - BA Purtle

‘Effective ministry corresponds so much with the character of a minister that theologian John Sanderson advised people to play softball with pastoral candidates interviewing for a position. "Then on a close play at second base," Sanderson said (with his tongue mostly in cheek), "call him out when he is really safe. Then see what happens!"’ -Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching