Like all Americans, I grew up looking at a flag with my hand over my heart as I pledged my life to it at schools, sports, and even church. It had the word “God” in it, so I figured I was on the right track, but as I grew up, I started to note too…
On the seventh day of the Genesis creation poem, God finished his good (not perfect) work and rested—a term implying two separate ideas: (1) he took a break and (2) he took up residence in his earthly temple of Eden. The good (not perfect) humans he designed to take care of his good (not perfect)…
Remember this passage from Revelation? “I was shaking and trembling, and I fell. I looked again at my vision, and, behold, another door opened in front of me. This was a great house and all was built with tongues of fire. It was all worth more in glory and honor and greatness such that I…
Within the spiritual realm there exists a divine postal service of sorts that’s worked by angels. In fact, the word angel literally translated is messenger. While we typically use this word today to denote all the good spiritual beings of Heaven (which is often how the New Testament uses the word), the wider biblical picture…
When Aslan tells Lucy he’ll see her again soon, Lucy asks him to define what he means by soon. Aslan replies, “I call all times soon.” John uses this word in the opening line of Revelation, saying that his prophecies, “must soon take place.” But it’s been a few centuries since he wrote that, so…
While all humans were made in God’s image with equal authority, sin has pushed us to thrive at the expense of another, creating a vast dividing line between the rich and the poor. God saw this in humanity and created laws to make sure humanity took care of one another, but as we can see,…
To some, what’s happening at Asbury these days sounds Pentecostal or Charismatic rather than Wesleyan, which is the tradition the school is grounded in. But this perception comes from what we see of Methodism in the present world. Today, Methodists are often known for things like holiness and reason, but at its starting point, Methodists…
Michael Heiser is one of my biggest heroes. He was instrumental in taking the dense scholarly world of the Bible, and making it intriguing and tangible for thousands of us. I can easily say that my ministry, teaching, and understanding of Biblical mission would be entirely different had I not encountered his work a few…
Someone owes Dallas money for how much he’s been telling people to watch Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, which is a stop-motion rendition of the classic story with some really clever and meaningful changes. Dallas and Jamin dissect the religious and biblical themes of the movie and come away with a timely Ash Wednesday message. You…
Like thousands of others across the country, I took the Christian pilgrimage down to Asbury University this week to see firsthand what the Holy Spirit was up to. It was wonderful. When such movements of God happen in the Bible, it always causes Bible scholars to ask, “Why?” In the same way, we all today…
Jamin Bradley 