I enjoy recommending the The Jesus Storybook Bible (by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Jago) because as the subtitle states, “every story whispers His name.” The point of the Bible is Jesus. While reading the stories of Scripture to our kids the connections to Christ become more vivid … aha! That’s why that was this way … Oh, now I see! (Parents and adults, you should read this book.) It’s a great read and we’ve given it as gifts to many. Helps us to enjoy the Bible so we can enjoy the One about whom it is written. Here’s a video version of the...

“My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God.” —Charles Spurgeon (more via Randy Alcorn, Spurgeon’s Theology: Embracing Biblical Paradox) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Consistent & inconsistent", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/10/27/consistent-inconsistent/" });

It seems like the key to reading the one-chapter “postcard” Epistle of St. Jude is the word “keep” (or “kept”). God will keep His people by the one true message, the Gospel, which has been delivered once and for all to the saints (His chosen people, v. 3). But, this message is not just for us. It is to propel us forward in a mission towards others (vv. 22-23). The readers can understand the falling away and false teaching of their age (and ours) through Jude’s quick-but-thorough analysis. He bridges the OT and NT epochs under the one message of Jesus, the...

What does the album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” by Wilco have to do with the Bible? Watch for a great description of both: A Wilco Review & the Bible from Rethink Mission on Vimeo. What’s in it? Pretty stuff. Hard stuff. An abrasion. It’s all there. Also amazingly beautiful. “You have to sit with it. You have to allow yourself the time to get something out of it.” // Message by Jonathan McIntosh, rethinkmission.org. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Bible: allow yourself the time to get something out of it", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/09/04/the-bible-allow-yourself-the-time-to-get-something-out-of-it/"...

A friend asked if I would join in a “Sovereignty of God blog series” this Summer, giving no set boundaries other than to ask us to share how we interact with God’s sovereignty from a theological and personal perspective. On the docket are lots of well-known bloggers, and then me. Oh yeah, and he scheduled me to go first. Humbling. My post “A Story of Sovereignty” is up now It’s a bit longer than a normal blog post. Won’t blame God for that … (The revised version posted is a bit shorter than the full version I’ll start posting here tomorrow,...

This week, in talking about Why we Pray (and praying), I was reminded of a simple truth I learned last year. It was put together in a post on GoingtoSeminary.com. Let’s together celebrate our independence today through our dependence upon the Sovereign King of all. Here’s what I wrote then, and swim in now: [Fall '08] Greek has seemed to be a little disjointed until we arrive in the relative deep-end of participles this semester. I am certainly still wading around in the shallow end, but being pushed further into learning how to swim in this new language (but still with those orange...

"If you want to get to know Jesus more, Colossians is a good place to start." That’s what our Lead Pastor, Joel, said on Sunday as we kicked off this New Yea with a nine-week expositional series in Colossians, with The Source of Transformation (Col. 1:1-14). This book is perhaps the most Christo-centric book in all the Scriptures. Our congregation is challenged to read through all four chapters in Colossians each week for the next 8 weeks. I decided to read the whole book each day. Today was awesome. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A good place to start", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/01/06/a-good-place-to-start/"...