Tag Archives: age of decay

God’s Gentleness, Patience and Silence as necessary precursors for his intimacy with us.

Posted on December 1, 2010 by

God’s Gentleness, Patience and Silence as necessary precursors for his intimacy with us. In Chuck De Groat’s wonderful piece on singleness in the church he highlights a very foundational yet too-little-known truth that safety is more important than we know. … Continue reading →

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Palm Sunday was for Religious Crack Addicts of the Age of Decay

Posted on October 17, 2010 by

In the triumphal entry Jesus finally lets the disciples fully indulge in their insufficient messianic fantasies. All throughout his ministry the disciples have been attempting to found Jesus’ kingdom upon the age of decay. This motley, politically and religiously diverse … Continue reading →

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Understanding Colossians 1:24 through Luke 18:31-34

Posted on September 11, 2010 by

Got a question on Voices about Colossians 1:24 and decided to write a treatment of it through my text for this week’s sermon, Luke 18:31-34. Luke 18:31-34 (NRSV) Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we … Continue reading →

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Life of the age to come

Posted on August 18, 2010 by

Just some more work on my gospel vocabulary. Here’s another way to think about it belief, consequence, judgment and the life of the age to come. What Jesus does when he proclaims that the kingdom-of-heaven/earth/eternal-life/being-in-Christ is at hand, is that … Continue reading →

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Jesus' culture war

Posted on July 12, 2010 by

I wrote this for CRC-Voices for a thread on church and politics. Because of our “one square inch” tradition it is important for us to pay some attention to the question of getting specific with the mission of the church. … Continue reading →

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"Age of Decay" where I got it from and why I won't stop using the phrase

Posted on June 4, 2010 by

I get this question a lot. “Where did you get ‘age of decay’ from?” and “why do you use that phrase, it is discouraging.” Here’s my answer. I started using the phrase “age of decay” after reflecting on Romans 8:21. … Continue reading →

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My response to the "Crucifixion was a cheat" challenge

Posted on June 4, 2010 by

More than once I have heard the suggestion that Jesus’ trip to the cross is somehow cheapened by the prior knowledge he had of the resurrection. We know he had this prior knowledge because he told his disciples about it … Continue reading →

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Applying the Resurrection

Posted on April 5, 2010 by

It’s the morning after Easter Sunday for preachers and I’m in my office because I read my calendar wrong. 😦 Might as well get some work done. Lots of “he is risen” yesterday, all well meant but part of me … Continue reading →

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Is the Tower of Babel story an urban vs. nature story?

Posted on December 23, 2009 by

This is from a discussion on CRC-Voices that wandered into the urban vs. rural conflict. Are cities evil? Keller got mentioned so that’s how he got into the argument. Keller inherits the urban ministry work done by Westminster East and … Continue reading →

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Revelation 17: The Beast Consumes the Whore, where the relational polarity of the age of decay always leads

Posted on December 14, 2009 by

I’ve been working through the book of Revelation for quite a while now in our Adult Sunday School class. This week we talked about the vision in Revelation 17 of the whore of Babylon and her relationship with the beast. … Continue reading →

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