Full Blog
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This post intends to be the third in a series: Giving the explanation of what a “church-founding apostle” is, I would set forth two reasons, two Biblical arguments, as to why we need them today. We need church-founding apostles because we need “Paul-like missionaries” Most Protestants today, with thanks in no small part to William…
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This post intends to be the second in a series: We previously saw that there are about as many senses of the Greek word “apostle” as there are for the English phrase “sent one.” The type of apostles we are concerned with in this series are those who are sent, authorized, and equipped to lay…
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This post intends to be the first in a series: In Koine Greek an “apostle” is a “sent one,” the same idea as expressed in the Latin word “missionarius.” In particular, the sender sends out an “apostle” to fulfill a specific task, authorizing and equipping them however necessary to do so. Perhaps the point that…
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A predominant expectation for the coming Messiah in first century Judea was that of a military leader who would raise up an army, overthrow the regional Roman occupiers, and rule Israel from Jerusalem in a rebirthed continuation of the Davidic dynasty. The gospels and early Acts indicate that Jesus’ own disciples followed him with the…
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Ὅτι ὑμῖν δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὐ δέδοται. To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Mt 13:11 God shouts some things so that all are without excuse, but whispers other things that only…
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Any student of the Holy Bible knows that Israel is at the center of God’s relationship with the nations of this world, His-Story of global affairs. Being “firstborn” carries both privilege and responsibility. So let’s start there: In sum: All the countries of this world are stupid and evil. Thank you for your attention to…
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It is not hard to find support for the idea that the Bible intersects politics. What is difficult, however, is to find any consensus on what the political implications of the Bible properly are. A wide spectrum of possibilities offer themselves regarding the potential relationship between religion and government: Count me among those who consider…
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In sixish days I return to Asia, with high chances that it is a permanent move this time. Well-meaning family and friends, who are all very kind and supportive folks that I love(!), may be inclined to say, “I’m excited for this next stage of your journey.” Well, thank you! And certainly you are free…
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The Kingdom of God is the central storyline of the Bible. Key developments of the story are found in accounts of the Garden (1:28), Abraham (12:1-3), Moses (Ex 19:6), David (2 Sam 7:12ff, Ps 2), and Daniel (chps. 2 & 7), but the theme permeates the entire Hebrew Bible. The Kingdom of God is the…
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[Let me admit right off the bat that I don’t presently have a compelling Biblical argument for this one. A large number of Biblical passages and principles arguably point in strongly favor of this idea being true, but I’ll admit that I don’t have a text that seems to be explicitly directing us toward understanding…
hasteningthecomingofthedayofGod 