I am about to start a sermon series on the book of Hebrews, and will endeavor to share those messages here. Hebrews ties together the Old and New Testaments by showing how Jesus is carrying forward into the church age the work started by God among the Hebrew people. Written to a Jewish audience, the letter to the Hebrews strives to prove that Christianity is the continuation of Judaism, and not something else entirely. If you have ever questioned why a Christian should read or study the Old Testament, this book will be an eye-opener. Quite simply, most of what God was doing in the Old Testament was meant to help us understand the work of Christ in the New. Continue reading
Author Archives: Clark Bunch
Bible Survey: Abraham, Man of Faith
The Bible Survey project took something of a hiatus when my daughter Johannah was born. The few posts that exist continue to attract page views, presumably through search engine results for the key words. Ridden with guilt about never getting past Gen 11, I am ready to pick up the torch.
Abraham is the first man of faith we encounter in the Bible. At Gen 15, a significant event takes place in the relationship between God and man. It is neither obedience nor sacrifice that makes Abraham right with God; it is what he believes about God that counts as righteousness. Join me at Bible Survey to continue the journey.
Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and the Kingdom of God
Lincoln, King and the Kingdom: what’s the relationship? I’ve always wondered who in the government decided to put Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) together. Although my students will tell you that sometimes I get a little preachy when I teach history, I’ve always tried to not lecture history from the pulpit. This time, I’m going to ask that you indulge me just a little bit.
It’s always around this time of year that my American History class studies the Civil War. It just so happens that right in the middle of that, my wife and I visited D.C. over the Christmas break. I stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and looked across the reflection pool toward the Washington Monument. The words of the Gettysburg Address are carved into Lincoln’s memorial in 12″ letters. It’s hard not to come back and say something about it. Continue reading
There is Much to Pray For
I noted at church this morning there seems to be more things to pray about than usual. We’re in one of those seasons that “casting our cares upon him” takes a little more time and effort, but seasons change and this too shall pass.
Pray for the people of Hatti, as well as those who will go there bringing relief and doing what they can to help. I know a group of church pastors personally who make regular trips to Hatti, and even now are gathering donations and preparing to go. Let’s ignore the Pat Robertsons of the world who claim this is God’s judgment, and mobilize to give aid and live out the Gospel. I don’t think Jesus would sit around saying “I told you so.” He touched the sick, ate with sinners, washed the disciples feet, and told us to do the same. We have blessed with much so that we can bless others. Continue reading
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
I’ve written before on just who the Magi were and where they might have been from. The truth is, we don’t know how many wise men visited Jesus nor where they came from. The traditional names Casper, Melchior and Balthazar are from the Western Church tradition; Eastern Orthodoxy and Ethiopian Christianity offer different lists of names. Were they from Persia? China? Like I said, we don’t know. They were not at the manger either, but that’s another story. Continue reading
…And the Holy Spirit
God manifests himself in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It’s easy to recognize the Father and Son in many of our Christmas stories and traditions, but the Holy Spirit is sort of the missing character. That’s just in our remembrance of the story; in the Biblical account, he is all over that story.
If we’re aware of the Holy Spirit in the Christmas narrative at all, it’s probably when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will conceive, Luke 1:35. That’s just the first time Luke will mention the Spirit. Continue reading
Advent: Faith
Week 2 of Advent is about faith, and we light the Bethleham candle. This candle reminds us of the faith Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethleham, believing God was fulfilling his promise to Israel and blessing their family at the same time. I began by reading Psalm 79. Most of the psalm is a lement over the destruction of Jesrusalem. Continue reading
Pray for InternetMonk
Please continue to pray for Michael Spencer.
To be honest, I don’t know who I’m writing this to. IMonk has a much larger audience than my own, and anyone reading my blog probably already reads him. Nevertheless, he really is sick and asking others to pray makes me feel better and hopefully he appreciates it as well.
In his latest podcast, he says that during times of illness, he tends to be more humble. Those of us that work with him in ministry got a Facebook update to the effect of “you guys carry on.” This is the least “control freak” I’ve ever seen him. If you listen to the podcast, he sounds a little off, and doesn’t know when he will broadcast another one. He has not been preaching or teaching for the past week, and will not be for a while.
Remember him in prayer, that’s all I’m saying. And maybe send a Joel Osteen e-greeting reminding him to keep thinking positive thoughts – that ought’a do the trick.
Christmas Card Theology
What if everything we knew about Christmas came from studying the pictures on our Christmas cards? Even if you never pick up a Bible, there’s a lot to learn from the cards we send around each year. Here’s a list of some that I’ve noticed:
- Mary and Jesus are both white. I’ve even seen Jesus with red hair, and lots of it. Way too much for a newborn.
- Angels are beautiful women. They basically look like super models in choir robes. OR
- Angels are 6 year old children. They’re cute, and plump, and sometimes play musical instruments.
- There were 3 wise men. There were exactly 3 wise men, no more, no less. Two of them were white, one was black. AND THEY WERE AT THE MANGER.
- The manger was in a shelter made of wood with a straw roof. There were no other buildings of any sort for several miles in any direction.
These are a few of the things we learn when we get our theology from Christmas card images. Assuming of course that your cards have anything about Jesus on them at all. I’m going to leave it at this. Check out the first couple chapters of Matthew and Luke before asking stupid any questions.
The Ten Percent Tithe
Tithing is a tricky thing. If a church pastor preaches a sermon on tithing, he will be accused of being interested only in money. The pastor’s salary (minister, priest, etc) is probably set in the church budget. It’s not like if the church has a good day at the offering plate, he’s going out to Golden Corral after the service. But try to teach on the subject of tithing if you don’t believe me, and see if words like meddling or greedy aren’t tossed around freely.
The issue I wish to address here is the practice many Christians have of tithing exactly ten percent of each dollar earned. I mean to respond to questions such as:
- Is tithing an Old Testament command?
- Are Christians required to tithe?
- Does Jesus demand a tithe?
- How much should one tithe, if anything? Continue reading
The Master's Table 