I was taught in seminary and graduate school, as were many others of my generation and several before that, that the OT doesn’t have “a” central point–there’s no central concept around which you can organize the OT. The OT is too diverse for that sort of thing. As soon as you find a theme that seems to work, it either doesn’t (e.g., covenant) or it’... read more

"Hark the Herald" - Pastor Jeff Stoopes

The gospel is not good advice -- it is good news, glad tidings. One may receive endless "good" religious advice from an endless stream of gurus, The gospel needs no gurus. The gospel needs heralds.

Let's imagine that we are all peasants (pretty easy for some of us) in a small medieval village in a dinky ... read more

Mud Flat Musing: "Tough Times"

Let's be honest, sometimes life just does not go that well.

Moses had the thankless task of leading the people of Israel. Every time he turned around, they griped about something. "We need water." "We are starving." "We want food, but we hate manna."

Job was depressed. He lost everything, then cursed the day... read more

"Miracles" - Pastor Mark Crispell

This selection of Bible verses from Mark the Gospel writer, is my favorite passage in all of scripture. You might ask: “That’s odd, why is that?”

Here’s the thing: I embrace this piece of God’s Word for three reasons. First, it speaks loudly about our Creator’s awesome love for us. Secondly, it says a lot... read more