Category: Bible
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New Matthew posts will return! (an update on the blog)
Hey friends! Now that the Refiner’s Fire series-within-a-series is finished, you may have noticed a lull in my weekly Matthew posts. I am currently head-down working on my new novel, Seeds 2, but rest assured that new, regular Matthew posts will resume soon! Lord willing, I will be able to write and post new commentary later…
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We Are in the World, But Not Of It
“To the temporary residents of the dispersion,” Peter writes. What is, in my Bible, translated “dispersed” is more properly a noun: the dispersion, or the diaspora. The English Standard Version renders it “those who are elect exiles.” In this first-century world Peter was writing to Jewish communities planted throughout the Greek-speaking and Greek-encultured Roman Empire.…
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Finally: Keys to Navigating Our Doubts (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 37)
NOTE: This post concludes the “Refiner’s Fire” series, now available as a book from Amazon and other retailers. To read the whole thing on this blog, go to the Matthew series and scroll down for the “Refiner’s Fire” section. When circumstances go sideways or long-submerged questions suddenly break the surface of our hearts, many of us will…
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The Answer to Doubt Is Love (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 36)
NOTE: This is part 36 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. Although it’s not a popular subject in this day and age, judgment is a theme…
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Wisdom Is Vindicated by Her Children (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 35)
NOTE: This is part 35 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. So now, after journeying through the history of Israel and the prophetic Scriptures, getting to…
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It’s the End of the World Again (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 34)
NOTE: This is part 34 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. When I was sixteen, the world had somehow convinced itself that at midnight on December…
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The Value and Limits of Spiritual Experience (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 33)
NOTE: This is part 33 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. As I said earlier, testimony is vital to growing and strengthening our faith. But it’s…
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The Apologetics of Experience (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 32)
NOTE: This is part 32 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. My paternal grandmother, Lois Thomson, was the kind of woman who won arguments. She had…
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The Self-Revelation of the Messiah (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 31)
NOTE: This is part 31 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. In the saga of Jesus’s self-revelation as the Messiah, there are four distinct…
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Seeing the Story from the Other Side (Refiner’s Fire, Pt 30)
NOTE: This is part 30 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. We’ve spent a lot of time in this book unpacking the expectations of…