Parchment & Pen Blog

I turn now to some major Christological passages in the epistles. Regrettably, I wrote a full treatment of Colossians 1:12-20 but have had to cut it for sake of space. Romans 10:8-13 Verses 8-10: Paul states that the saving confession is that “Jesus is Lord” (kurios) and “that God raised him from the dead.” As [...]

Jesus Christ: Prefigured and Prophesied Last week I finished my opening argument with a reference to Genesis: Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. This is Christianity’s foundation teaching: Sin deserves death Sacrifice offers a covering for sin Only God can provide a sin-covering sacrifice; [...]

Evangelicalism suffers from its strengths. And that is a weakness that I have to be willing to live with. (Warning: Emergers—those of you who dispise labels: hold your nose as you read. You will grow accustomed to the smell.) What does it mean to be Evangelical? What is the sine qua non of Evangelicalism? There [...]

We’re excited to share the new programs under development at Reclaiming the Mind Ministries. Many of you are familiar with our acclaimed theology program. While The Theology Program will always remain our flagship program, we are excited to have a few new programs come alongside it this year. The three large projects we’re looking forward [...]

This post is dedicated to my fellow classmates at Dallas Theological Seminary and all other seminary students Seminary is hard work.  The curriculum is intense, the work load is demanding and assignments seem to over-shadow time that rapidly seems to tick away.  But there is much to learn – Greek, Hebrew, Church History, Homeletics, Pastoral [...]

When I was in college, I remember reading F.F. Bruce’s superb work, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free.  I recall, however, Bruce’s suggestion that Paul’s preaching at Athens (Acts 17) had been something of a failure. Why? He hadn’t preached the “word of the cross.”[1] Similarly, the late William Ramsay claimed that Paul, because [...]

Reclaiming the Mind Ministries, like so many other good ministries, is in significant financial need. If you believe in or have benefited from what we are doing, please consider partnering with us. BTW: Reclaiming the Mind is the ministry associated with this blog.

The following is a practical guide to biblical interpretation following a three step process that I have used for years. The Bible is two-thousand years old and often seems very archaic. This makes it hard to know how it applies to us. It can be very frustrating as all Christians are encouraged to read their [...]

Even with two of the six weeks of this debate devoted to discussing the person of Jesus Christ, we have an embarrassing wealth of riches from Scripture on the subject and cannot possibly do all of it justice in the space and time allotted. I have written a book on the subject, co-authored with my [...]

Jesus Christ: Son of God; Son of Man Jesus of Nazareth is the most important man who has ever lived. Christians are indebted to him for the hope that he offers, the sacrifice he offered on our behalf, and the special relationship with God that is made possible through him. This post explains how Biblical [...]

I was pointed to this video a couple of weeks ago by Tim Kimberley, who works with us at the Credo House. It was very encouraging. At every turn I felt that he was describing my exact situation. I pray that it helps someone else out there as well. Thanks to Tommy for having so [...]

It is another one of those posts. You know, the ones I should no be writing but write anyway. It is a very dark time in my life. I don’t know how else to describe it. About three or four weeks ago I changed. I don’t know how to describe this to you. Either I [...]