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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God seeks us so we might find Him, but He does so in ways that do not always make sense to us.
God is in control of history and He can even use evil and evil ones to accomplish His purposes.
The gospel fires up within us the gratitude, joy, and love to pull off what the law never could get us to do.
What greater friend could we have than Jesus?
Who wants to be Ezekiel?” Any volunteers? Being a prophet of the LORD most high does not always come with a great job description!
In both Psalms, we hear the Messiah becoming sin for us, and thus he pleads on our behalf before the Father
Jeremiah is saying, “LORD I am doing my job, why are You NOT doing Yours?”
We’ve become experts at making deals with God.
This is an excerpt adapted from “Let the Bird Fly” written by Wade Johnston (1517 Publishing, 2019).
Isaiah first reminds the people of who they are and then tells them why they are who they are; to bring the teachings and promises of the LORD to all people.
How does God feel about us sinners? God loves us so much that His stomach aches. His insides hurt. He refuses to let our sins separate us from Him. He refuses to let us die.
The scandal of this text for the Jewish people is the inclusion of all nations and peoples into the Holy House of the LORD.