I remember the first time my pastor invited me out to Duke Gardens. I was a pastoral intern at a church in Wake Forest, NC, and a third-year seminary student. One Thursday morning, during our intern meeting—eight of us gathered around a table—Pastor Larry walked in,...
“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and it will defend itself.” Charles Spurgeon As we move through the Gospel of Mark, one striking pattern emerges—rooted in the Bible’s supernatural worldview:...
The mid-1930s were a tumultuous time on the European continent. World War I had left several countries in incalculable debt, and the Great Depression had become a global crisis. In Germany in particular, this combination of economic misery—along with deep...
Jesus himself said that the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings were fulfilled in him. (1) But how? That’s the joy of biblical interpretation—it’s like a never-ending Easter egg hunt, searching for all the ways the Old Testament foretold this “fulfillment.” In Genesis...
I remember my dad once asked me to do something I wasn’t quite sure how to do. As I considered his instruction, I asked him, “how do you know that’s going to work?” He smiled and said, “I guess you’re just going to have to take my word for it.” At that moment, I had a...
