Category Archives: Heaven

Surprised by Hope: Justin Martyr and the Didascalia Apostolorum

Back in the summer, I wrote a series of posts around N. T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope, regarding the nature the end of time. Wright argues — quite convincingly — that the Bible teaches a bodily resurrection in a … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 3

Next consider Paul before Felix — (Act 24:24-25) Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 2

In Acts 10, the conversion of Cornelius, Peter begins with, (Acts 10:34-35) Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 1.5

I keep writing these too-long answers to questions, but they’re great questions that force me to dig deeper and try to explain myself better. Alan wrote, I’m particularly sensitive to this topic. I’ve seen dynamic leaders converting large numbers of … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 1

Readers, In my recent post on evangelism, I argued for a greater emphasis on mission in our evangelism. A couple of readers argue to the contrary in the comment section. My response was too long for the comment fields, so … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism

[The Surprised by Hope series will continue during my hiatus, because I have to get ready for class Sunday, no matter how I feel.] In his chapter on mission, Wright makes several insightful comments on evangelism — The power of … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: God’s Justice and Illegal Immigration, Part 3

Notice how we tend to think about political issues. * Some of us see political issues as entirely separate from Christianity. Church has nothing to do with illegal immigrants. The Bible simply doesn’t address such things. * Others see the … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: God’s Justice and Illegal Immigration, Part 2

We are the aliens The next theological observation is found in several verses, such as — (Heb 11:13) All these people [in the honor roll of faith] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: God’s Justice and Illegal Immigration, Part 1

I’ve been trying to think of a good example of the difference between the Christian perspective and the political perspective for class. I think illegal immigration likely shows the difference as well as anything. Imagine that you’re a U.S. Senator. … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Beauty

Wright likens the world to a chalice or a violin — beautiful in itself but much more beautiful in anticipation of the wine it will hold or the music it will play. Thus, the world in which we live is … Continue reading

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