Category: Refiner’s Fire

  • The Meaning of It All (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 27)

    The Meaning of It All (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 27)

    NOTE: This is part 27 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Behind every argument over facts or science or philosophy or comparative religion is…

  • Reasons for Belief and Reasons for Doubt (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 26)

    Reasons for Belief and Reasons for Doubt (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 26)

    NOTE: This is part 26 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. The God of the Bible never asked anyone to engage in trust that…

  • The Summons to Seek (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 25)

    The Summons to Seek (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 25)

    NOTE: This is part 25 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. I hope by now it is clear that I am not advocating we…

  • Your Doubts, in the Story of God (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 24)

    Your Doubts, in the Story of God (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 24)

    NOTE: This is part 24 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Not long after John’s disciples brought Jesus’s riddling answer from Isaiah 61 back…

  • The Forerunner of Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 23)

    The Forerunner of Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 23)

    NOTE: This is part 22 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Earlier, we looked at one of the passages where Yahweh declared his intention…

  • What Are YOU Looking For? (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 22)

    What Are YOU Looking For? (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 22)

    NOTE: This is part 22 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Having answered John’s question, Jesus turned to the crowds and challenged them too. Essentially he asked them,…

  • The Mystery Revealed (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 21)

    The Mystery Revealed (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 21)

    NOTE: This is part 20 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. Two thousand years after Jesus, we read Isaiah 53 and see no mystery at all. We immediately…

  • The Mystery of the Servant Songs (Refiner’s Fire, Part 20)

    The Mystery of the Servant Songs (Refiner’s Fire, Part 20)

    NOTE: This is part 20 of the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book here. To read it on the blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section at the bottom. More than thirty years after John’s conversation with Jesus—thirty years after John’s death, when the crucifixion and…

  • Refiner’s Fire: Out Now!

    Refiner’s Fire: Out Now!

    “I hope this book will do several things. I hope it will give us freedom to ask questions and to express our fears and doubts. I don’t think we are served by stuffing these things away. More than that, I hope it will give the shaking, the rocked, and the devastated tools to process their…

  • Getting the Story Wrong (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 19)

    Getting the Story Wrong (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 19)

    NOTE: “Refiner’s Fire” is a mini-series within my overall series on the gospel of Matthew. To start from the beginning, go here and look for the Refiner’s Fire section at the bottom. # By now it should be clear that two years into his ministry, Jesus was failing to live up to John’s expectations of…