What if our modern theology of politics is far too simple—and dangerously wrong? The Bible doesn’t paint a picture where every ruler is handpicked by God in a neat, predictable way. Instead, it reveals a cosmic drama of spiritual powers, human leaders, and seats of authority that can be used for justice—or deeply abused. To…
Many of us have made Jesus so inhuman that he becomes, as Paul Wallace says, a lot like Superman: he’s an alien, an immigrant from an unearthly realm sent to us—yes, by his father—from the heavens. He looks like one of us but is not really one of us. Like Clark Kent, his humble exterior…
Jesus’ Spirit and water baptism kicks off His entire ministry. The focus has been on John’s ministry up until this point and now the Spirit has appointed and anointed Jesus to begin His. And while such an anointing sounds like lollipops and gumdrops to the average Charismatic, we should note that the Holy Spirit kicks…
When Jesus disarms Peter, he disarms all of us. Learn more on the 1208PODCAST. Check out this podcast episode on 1208GREENWOOD’s webpage or simply subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play. And as a bonus, a good word and illustration from my brother Joel after preaching tonight: Before I begin I should give the disclaimer that I don’t…
John the Baptist communicated Jesus’ importance when he saw Him and told his disciples, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me’” (Jn 1:29-30). This declaration was a big deal…
There’s a good chance we’ve heard the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus so many times in church that we’ve failed to actually pay attention to what happened. Somehow in someway, God has just baptized God with God—that is to say that the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to the Son. Because of…
The Holy Spirit has been around since the very beginning of the Bible along with the rest of the Trinity. He is not introduced into the Bible when he is poured out at Pentecost. To think that He didn’t really have a role in the world until that point is to be grossly ignorant of…
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2) Two verses into the Bible and the Hebrew authors are already asking us to…
I remember reading a book by Frank Bartleman, who documented the events leading up to the Azusa Street Revival which took place at the start of the 20th century. While I appreciated the book and found it interesting, there was one line that really stuck with me in an off-putting way: “We need no more…
Before I got to college, I knew little about the Holy Spirit. But by the time I graduated, I was a different person. During my college days, I played in a worship band with some friends at a Pentecostal church and we took our music on the road a handful of times. It was there…
I was still learning about the Holy Spirit when a well known minister by the name of Mahesh Chavda came to town. I was asked by a college professor of mine to attend the event as a “catcher.” In other words, it was my job to catch the people who fell over under the power…
Jamin Bradley 
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