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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What if sin was truly removed and what if the one who took it from us had the power to conquer it’s curse and spit in the face of death?
Maundy Thursday is your big night. For the Passover Lamb is given for you, given to you.
You are not alone if you find it difficult to wrap your mind around the auspices of the Old Testament sacrificial system.
A set of Holy Week poems written and published first by Tanner Olson on his website, writtentospeak.com.
Today I would like to share The Legend of the Dogwood, inspired by the words of Stoney Cooper.
If we just say to God, “We don’t get it, please explain,” he will. He will send us a preacher to point us to his words for more clarification.
My fear of this coming darkness only lasts a moment.
Human history, our history, is the story of two Adams with two very different encounters with the devil.
What we discover in O’Connor’s stories and Martin Luther’s theology is that God’s grace is elusive because the human heart is resistant to it.
We can’t predict the harvest. We can only sow.
Some explanations are better than others, but they remain our explanations—except if we had some perspective from outside, above, and behind nature.
Reading includes, on some level, striving. Hearing, on the other hand, remains passive.