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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The doctrine of the Trinity is not so much the story of a “who-dunnit” as it is the story of the “who-is-it.”
Do it again, God,” rings the psalmist’s appeal.
It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.
I realized that no matter where I call "home," I won't be able to shake the feeling of homesickness.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
It's a new year, and you are still the same you: a sinner who is simultaneously perfect in every way because Christ declares it to be so.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
The central message of Christianity is not a worldview, a way of life, or a program for personal or societal change; it is a person and the message of the cross.
Jesus took the poison of sin and drank the cup of wrath on our behalf to gain favor and righteousness for us.
It is your privilege—we may even say “right”—to call upon this Father and to call him Father.
The gospel is for sinners – both the tax collector and Pharisee, both in need of the Great Physician.