Josephus does not tell us that Christianity is true, and Christians do not need Josephus to tell them that Christ is risen. But Christianity makes claims about things that happened in public history under identifiable rulers, priests, and governors. For that reason, testimony from outside the church matters.
Today, the longing for cultural Christianity on both the left and the right hearkens back to an older version of Christendom that was a mixed blessing for the church in the western world. The cultural mediation of Christian views on created order has certainly benefitted the civilization we’ve inherited. But the gospel itself isn’t something that can be reduced to cultural mediation either. Instead, the gospel as a message stands apart from all human accomplishments and achievements, no matter how beneficial they might be.
The student of Scripture should always have a map open next to their Bible as they read. If possible, they should also travel to Israel, not to make a pilgrimage, but to see the context of the land in which these stories took place. These are not fairy tales made up about fictional fantasy lands; these are stories about real people in real places interacting with a real God.

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The mystery has been revealed! The mystery, of course, is the Gospel!
These exhortations are dependent upon the accomplishments of Christ in the first Advent, with the upshot that upon the final advent the faithful will stand “sanctified completely” and “blameless.” Be mindful of both, neglect neither.
The sneak-peek vision of the world to come, a preview of the Last Day, the Day of the Lord, has already been revealed, declares Peter.
Human history and especially the Christian life have a shape and Jesus is its shaper at every point.
The resurrection of Jesus was the moment when the one true God appointed the Man through whom the whole cosmos would be brought back into its proper order. A man got us into this mess; the Man would get it out again.
There is life after death and, more gloriously, there is life after life after death, the resurrection of the body.
Faithful preachers should remain steadfast in the biblical categories and terminology and preach the reality of death.
Mindful that the pagans’ understanding of death is a finality, Paul says, “NO!” Death is not the end of humanity in God’s new world.
Passover is the story that lets us interpret the full meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection.
In the pursuit of democratizing the worship experience, we go from hearing the voice of God to hearing voices and in some cases hearing our own voice!
The Church is like a beehive: One working for all and affecting all and all working for and affecting one.
Nothing promotes good preaching quite like actually knowing the Word of Truth and delivering it from a disposition of passionate care, commitment through the long-haul, and life spent together with the people of God.