Dying to Live: Understanding the Freedom of Discipleship
The Gospel is a call to liberty. Jesus announced that the Father had sent Him “to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk. 4:18-19). Whereas much of the Prophets’ message was about judgment, the Church has the unique privilege of proclaiming the Good News: Jesus death and resurrection saves us from God’s eternal...
In Christ: Salvation & Suffering
It was with a blinding light and a commanding voice that Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Having recently approved of the murder of yet another blasphemer by the name of Stephen, Saul was on his way to bring others like him bound to Jerusalem. While his encounter with Stephen was certainly unique, his encounter with the resurrected Christ was unlike anything else. Luke records Jesus’ words in the book of Acts:...
Rhythm’s ‘Rite’
This week marks the centennial of a famous riot in Paris on May 29, 1913. Was the cause of this riot political unrest, governmental abuses, or class warfare? No. It was a ballet! Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, The Rite of Spring, premiered in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, literally igniting a physical riot in the crowd, as well as an aesthetic riot in the twentieth century music world. How could a ballet have had such tremendous and...
‘Read’ This Article
Just eight days prior to this article’s post date, my wife and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. One of our favorite hobbies is reading, privately to ourselves and aloud to one-another. We simply love entering a story and dissecting its characters, plots, themes, and twists and turns. Yet should reading be more than a ‘hobby’? Is it somehow related to our discipleship as Christians? I submit that it is of the utmost...
A Newlywed Perspective on Ephesians 5:22-33
by Chris & Rebekah Talbot The music cued and she turned the corner to walk down the aisle in front of me. I waited patiently on stage as I saw my bride for the first time that day. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Dressed elegantly in her ivory dress, I resisted my tears and choked down that lump in my throat more than once. I can recount it like it was only yesterday—in part, because it hasn’t been all that long....
Baptism and Circumcision: Where Infant Baptism Gets It Wrong
The issue of baptism is the trademark of Baptist identity. Since their beginning, Baptists have taken a unique stance on the issue of baptism: that only believer’s can be baptized. This doctrine is grounded in Paul’s words in Romans 6:3-4: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was...
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