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.
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.
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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Jesus came from the heights of heaven above to the depths of earth below to rescue and redeem his long-lost love.
Christ has taken our failures and defeats and exchanges that yoke for his own.
Bo Giertz attained infamy in Sweden for a humble adherence to unpopular, orthodox practice and doctrine.
Our Lord is not only the King of creation but the King of creativity.
God’s word is creative in both the imaginative sense and the constructive sense. It brings things into existence and displays new ideas, images, and concepts we did not previously perceive.
James makes it sound like prayer is actually effective, that God listens, God answers in line with our requests. Does James realize the questions he is raising?
In a time of unknown, the Flanigans found comfort in the words of the prayer book and made them truly their own.
Just like in the previous interview, I had to rewind to make sure I was hearing all this right. Yeah, that's actually what he said.
When sin comes out of the shadows and makes itself known, Christians can rest in and declare Christ's resurrection.
This is the second installment in our series profiling women in the Bible (Who are not named Ruth or Esther). Both the stories of Ruth and Esther are beautiful, gracious, and profound. We love reading and rereading them. However, in an attempt to bring attention to more stories of more women throughout the Scriptures, we choose now to shift our focus.
The Second Edition of “The Christian Life: Cross or Glory?” by Steven Hein is now available from 1517 Publishing.
For all mankind, the answer is terrifically simple and remains the same: God wants to turn us towards the cross and then turn us back to our neighbors.