Tag Archives: relational polarity

Why did God make the world?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by PaulVK

Joy, and the chance to be God more than he could with just the Trinity. Wrote this in response to Russ at “The Village” I hope this comes as a response to Russ’ “net negative” essay. To me the answer … Continue reading →

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The Antithesis

Posted on December 2, 2010 by PaulVK

As I continue to ponder Romans 15 in the context of last week’s passage (Romans 13:11-14) I can’t help but think about the antithesis between Paul and Jesus’ teaching and what all of the world presses me to believe. Paul … Continue reading →

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Fear Energizes Moralism, Desire Energizes Gospel Living

Posted on December 1, 2010 by PaulVK

I’m working on Romans 15 for this week’s sermon. I’m struck both by the audacity of Paul’s invitation and the difficulty of following along. The theology is so self-giving, so cruciform, so strenuous. I’m also struck at how deeply moralism … Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 1, 2010 by PaulVK

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

Posted on September 11, 2010 by PaulVK

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 PaulVK

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 PaulVK

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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My response to the "Crucifixion was a cheat" challenge

Posted on June 4, 2010 by PaulVK

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 PaulVK

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 PaulVK

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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