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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It is important to see how the LORD does NOT answer the questions Job and his friends have been wrestling with.
This food, already purchased and freely given in our pericope, is a foretaste of the feast to come as well; the marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.
The well-known Sunday School story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is far from a simple account of three brave and faithful Israelites. It’s a mini-story with a mega-story tucked inside it—a story that links it (backward) to Exodus and (forward) to the Gospels.
To dwell with a Holy God in their camp, Israel lead holy lives. Anything standing in the way of and threatening this holy relationship must be avoided or eliminated.
If you do not know who your God is, you will not know what your idols are.
The disciplines of history and archaeology have assisted in demonstrating the integrity and accuracy of the Bible.
The message is clear and assuring—the Word of God does what it says it will do!
The people gathered in Jerusalem that day were making a bold statement of faith. They believed Jesus was the New David.
The kingdom I seek is the lower-case realm ruled over by the almighty upper-case Me.
As a prophet, Jeremiah only speaks the LORD’s words. Obviously, this is the difference between a true and false prophet.
Jeremiah trusts the LORD to be faithful. He knows the LORD must answer, even though he is not certain how He will answer.
In worship there is always the movement up which brings one closer to the holiness. The higher up you go, the closer to the presence of God and the closer to holiness.