James writes his epistle with style.[1] Some of this is obvious in any English translation of the New Testament. For instance, he employs images to present his ethics vividly, as when he mocks the duplicity of the human tongue by asking, “Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs?” (3:12). …
Protestant Reformer John Calvin was convinced that the human mind is a veritable “factory of idols.” This sinful impulse manifests itself even within the Church, which is semper reformanda—always needing renewal according to God’s Word. In the following quotation from his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559),[1] Calvin alerts God’s people to their fascination with and weakness for idols, and so …
“The Mind Begets an Idol”—John Calvin (1509 – 1564) Read More »
Ted Esler noticed a challenge among the missions network he leads: Agencies wanted to require theological training for their missionaries, but asking workers to spend time in physical classrooms was delaying their arrival on the field. When agencies attempted to train missionaries after they arrived on the field, they sometimes lost track of their progress. …
Missio Nexus Launches Missionary Training Track with BibleMesh Read More »
Was the Epistle of James among the first New Testament books to be written, or among the last? James has this odd legacy: it is perhaps the easiest New Testament book to apply directly to our lives today, and it is perhaps the hardest New Testament book to locate historically. Scholars will date it as …
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have …
When we sing about heaven, we typically, and with good warrant, focus on life in the presence of our Creator and our Savior, of freedom from want and strife and suffering, of fellowship with the saints. We sing of a place with “Not a shadow, not a sigh” (When We All Get to Heaven); where …