Tag: theology of the cross
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The Tyranny of Visible Fruit
The reality of life is that people implicitly assess Christian ministry through visible fruit, institutional momentum, relational success, and perceived stability. Even when they explicitly deny that—they do it. Even Christians who highly value the Bible do it. Because, as much as people may say that faithfulness is measured by the Bible: when pressure is…
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Why hasn’t the church collapsed?
The church is full of rubbish people. People making mistakes.People struggling with doubt.People who behave badly. How on earth is it still here? That is the question that Mark answers at the end of his Gospel. I was taught my whole life that the end of Mark’s Gospel is not original. Because the ending is…
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When God Commanded Genocide: 1 The Judge of the World on Trial
You are completely right to feel troubled by genocide in the Old Testament. Let’s not be mealy mouthed about this: God really did command Israel to commit genocide. This really did happen. Probably the starkest example is from 1 Samuel 15:1-3, which I’ll quote here in full: And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent…
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Life’s Unjust. God Isn’t.
Life is not fair. The strong win. Lies succeed. And things often don’t work out the way they should. God does not promise to fix the injustices of life in the present. Those that claim he always will are preaching a “theology of glory”—but God is not revealed in power, but in Jesus dying on…