Theologian and Pentecostal scholar Monte Rice writes of Wolfgang Vondey’s book Scandal of Pentecost, The: A Theology of the Public Church (https://amzn.to/3RGRGVA)
Flesh anointed, causing
Spirit-drunkenness
Babbling tongues
Perplexing wonders—
“What does this mean?”
The scandal of Pentecost
Perpetuates the scandal of Christ
Subverting norms
Clearing pathways
Prophetically proclaiming
God’s healing kingdom.
This is the thesis I find running throughout Wolfgang Vondey’s 2023 seminal work, The Scandal of Pentecost: A Theology of the Public Church (T&T Clark Bloomsbury Publishing Co., 2024).
After receiving a review copy, it has taken me several readings of Vondey’s Pentecostal theology of the public church to adequately grasp its message. I can assure you that this time taken for grasping its message is not all due to any deficiency of Vondey’s exposition, but rather to the profoundly full-sensory-evoking prose that several times left me feeling like the prophet Ezekiel who after experiencing the vision— sat stunned at the river Chebar.
Readers will thus find Vondey’s newest work not only theologically robust and solidly grounded in biblical exegesis but moreover— functioning very much as a “spiritual reading” that evocatively aims towards fostering the reader’s encounter with the very spiritual realities it explicates.
Exegetically and phenomenologically grounded in the Acts 1 narrative of the Pentecost event while working from a Christian theology of symbol that accentuates the parabolic and hence subverting aims of Christian symbolism, Vondey’s prime thesis is simply this. Contrary to common assumptions that Pentecost resolves the perplexities of Jesus’ scandalous life, it rather perpetuates his sandal through the ongoing prophetic role of the church gone public in the world.
Note that in Vondey’s biblical theology of the term, scandal signifies not necessarily the moral integrity of the scandalized but rather how the scandalized disrupted a prevailing culture’s norms and expectations. His sustained thrust from this Bible-evidenced “law of the scandal” thus helps us grasp the true parabolic power of Paul’s insistence: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those perishing, but to us becoming saved— it is the power of God.” Thus conversely, the experience of Pentecost is foolishness to the uninitiated. Yet to those whose flesh the Spirit engages – and thus every sensory organ animated as if zapped by electric shocks – Pentecost is a well of salvation flowing from the wounds of Christ our Spirit baptizer.
Though I can also now see how Paul himself wrestled with this scandal when, as this reading makes highly probable, he came close to inadvertently quenching the Spirit in Acts 14 through that phrase, “one at a time” (1 Cor 14), I can’t help but think that phrase is as humanly flawed as when elsewhere in a moment of frustration, he tells women that in the church gathering, they’re not to talk. (1 Tim 2).
For now, I must close this precursory reflection on Vondey’s stirring prose with a quote and one more quick implication. In subsequent days and weeks, I’ll post more reflections on this beautiful book.
First a word about the book’s structure. Reading and comprehending its Introduction and first two chapters (ch. 1 “Church as Symbol”; ch. 2 “The Christian Scandal”) are prerequisite to mastering the subsequent chapters’ respective themes and aims towards analyzing the three observed phenomena erupting through the bodies of both the public church and evoked world (ch. 3 “Drunken Disciples”; ch. 4 “Tongues of Babel”; ch. 5. “Anointing of Flesh”).
Vondey then converges these themes in ch. 6 (“Prophetic Witness”) to suggest how they help further and more robustly explicate the “prophethood of believers” (though Vondey does not use that term, I feel it aptly conceptualizes his direction). I will later further discuss these chapters and his “Conclusion” that ties them up towards the church’s congregational life and public witness through what we may thus aptly call, the parabolic function of the gifts of the Spirit (e.g., keeping in mind their symbolic roles towards arousing awareness of God’s kingdom).
Thus briefly looking at ch. 3 titled “Drunken Disciples,” note Vondey’s quotes:
“The fire and heat, passion and inspiration created by the prophetic spirit are enthusiastic because they stand at the limits of intellectual comprehensibility, physical control and social acceptability” (p. 108).
Yet— “The human behaviour is integral, not accidental, to the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise and the resulting ability of the disciples to be a witness to God in the power of the Spirit. The aesthetics of drunkenness, its overabundance and overflow in the flesh, makes possible the theophany, ecstasy and enthusiasm that belong to the gift of the Spirit precisely because it makes the church liable to criticism and forces the disciples to come out of themselves for the sake of public witness to the outpouring of God’s Spirit by the exalted Christ.
As the church receives the baptism in the Spirit, it offers in return its scandalous behaviour as a gift of God by giving the Spirit of Christ a body in the world. The church emerges in the history of the world with the gift of the Spirit through a public visibility and audibility manifested concretely in the scandal of its own behavioural corporeality” (p. 113).
From this extended quote, let me offer one quick implication towards today’s typical Pentecostal worship gathering:
In our ongoing intentional or even unintentional quest for cultural relevance, “seek-sensitivity” and conformity to Evangelical norms, are we more and more domesticating the Spirit by despising the Spirit of prophesy through by way of myriad fears and regulations (whether again intentional or unintentional) — curtailing eruption of congregational practices of spiritual gifts? Particularly the practice of prophecy?
Routinizing and thus domesticating the charisma— remains one of our most formidable challenges towards constructing the new bridges we need for reaching our postmodern world.
On the Lion of the tribe of Judah
Review of Rick Wadholm Jr.’s ‘A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets’ (CPT Press, 2018)
“Wadholm’s book thus reminds us through the testimony of the Former Prophets, spiritual growth – at least within Pentecostal spirituality – comprises growth in charismatic power received through Spirit baptism. This growth is growth into the charismatic fullness of Christ Which requires— occasional yet periodic on-the-edge events of what we can no longer manage; through the humanly unmanageable manifest presence of God.”
“Where is the Spirit of Elijah?”
Now that I’m done with that past “dissertation era,” and have at last completed most of all those past outstanding book reviews, I can catch up reading books long on my reading list! Though I am also about to start filling out a proposal to see the dissertation transformed into— a monograph!
So, over these past few days I inspiringly ploughed through Rick Wadholm, Jr’s published dissertation, A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets: A Pentecostal Perspective (CPT Press, 2018)!
A beautiful OT study on the Spirit!
Let me share one thing and I think the main vital thing from his book. Wadholm’s work seems to suggest above all else, that a pivotal Old Testament imagery/motif implicitly funding the Pentecostal imagination, experience and desire for increasing spiritual fullness through Spirit baptism seems to be—
The 2 Kings ch. 2 Elijah/Elisha story;
Portraying…
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More praise for Macchia’s 2023 Introduction to Theology
This is good!
More praise for Macchia’s 2023 Introduction to Theology:
Its timely construction warrants—
A “Macchian turn” within Pentecostal theological education.
I earlier said I’m convinced that Frank Macchia’s 2023 Introduction to Theology: Declaring the Wonders of God (BakerAcademic) is now the new standard benchmark for Pentecostal systematic theology. Specifically as a college level (or congregational resource) introduction to systematic theology from Pentecostal perspectives.
Having now finished reading this whole book, let me now boldly posit:
I am now convinced that its timely construction warrants what we might call, a “Macchian turn” within Pentecostal theological education.
There are of course many, many requisite voices shaping the world Pentecostal theological tradition. And several I would naturally mention at the forefront of developing Pentecostal constructive and/or systematic theologies. Frankly, at the very top of my list is especially Amos and Wolfgang Vondey.
Yet as I earlier stated, Macchia brand new Introduction to Theology comprises…
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Carmen Imes on Ecclesiastes for today.
In a written interview for Biola Magazine for her recent book Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters, Carmen Imes shares insights on the book of Ecclesiastes that are relevant for today – it is really good!
You’ve got a section in the middle of the book on what we can learn from the Bible’s wisdom literature about what it means to be human. Ecclesiastes is one of those books that can be a puzzle for folks, because it just feels bleak or meaningless. But you have an interesting take on it that diverges from a lot of people’s popular conceptions. Can you sum up what we can learn from Ecclesiastes?
Yes, so I am a fan of the NIV, but this is one place where I think the NIV has not done us a favor by the way they’ve translated one Hebrew word that occurs dozens of times in the book of Ecclesiastes. The word is hevel, which they’ve translated as “meaningless.” The book opens with “Meaningless, meaningless. Everything is utterly meaningless.” And then it’s natural to ask, what is this doing in the Bible, because it doesn’t seem like that is consistent with the rest of the teaching of Scripture. But the Hebrew word is actually a metaphor. It means vapor or smoke. It’s something intangible and transient. The point is lost when we try to get around the metaphor. The voice in Ecclesiastes is trying to say “Vapor, vapor. Everything is utterly vaporous.” That is, it’s transient; we can’t fully grasp it or keep it or hold onto it. The message of the book is not that life has no meaning, but rather that the meaning of life is difficult to grasp. And the key to a happy life is to enjoy the journey — and not always keep reaching out, trying to grasp for what we don’t have yet. And so I find the book a really powerful antidote to our production-driven, climbing-the-corporate-ladder kind of world, where it seems like even my students are on a journey of always reaching out for something they don’t have yet.
I used this in class this semester. I said to them: Some of you did not enjoy high school because you were so stressed trying to get a high enough GPA to end up at Biola, and you thought this was going be the thing. But as soon as you got here, you realized that you had to put everything into success here, so that you could land the right internships, so that you could land the right career. And so you’re not enjoying Biola because you’re too busy worrying about what career you’re going get on the other side. You’re going to get to that career and you’re not going to enjoy that either, because you’re going to always be worried about the next promotion that’s just out of reach, or finding that special someone to spend your life with, or having a child, or buying that house, or getting that dream vacation. There’s always going to be something that’s out of reach. And Ecclesiastes is an amazing antidote to that hopeless way of living because he says, I’ve tried it all. None of it ultimately satisfies. The key is just to enjoy the gifts that God has given you today and to relish those. And that’s where the phrase “eat, drink and be merry” comes from — the recognition that we don’t have tomorrow. All we have is today. And so we need to learn to enjoy today.
Book Review: Invitation to Biblical Interpretation
It is with thanks to Kregel Academic I am able to read and review Koestenberger and Patterson’s book Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology, 2nd ed. I am a regular reviewer for Kregel and this was a birthday book review selection.
This book is massive, clocking in at 661 pages of text. I think for the average person it might be a bit overwhelming but may be a good text for the Bible College/University or Seminary student. I don’t think it is unformidable for the average person but maybe if in a class at a church with others for support they would be able to get through such a text. The content of the book – hermeneutics – or how to read and interpret the Bible is something every Christian should know how to do. Yet, such text as this one may be more than many can handle.
The purpose of the book is to teach readers about what they call the hermeneutical triad. The hermeneutical triad consists of history (which considers the historical setting of a text of Scripture); literature (which considers the literary dimension of the biblical text(s); and theology (which considers the theological message of the Bible)(56). The authors write:
“Foundational to the plan of this book is the conviction that those who want to succeed in the task of biblical interpretation need to proceed within a proper interpretive framework, that is, the hermeneutical triad, which consists of three elements interpreters must address in studying any given biblical passage regardless of its genre (56).”
In essence, when interpreting the Bible it is important to consider the historical, literary, and theological contexts of the Bible.
The authors accomplish their purpose quite well by going through each aspect of their hermeneutical triad in detail – they cover historical (and archaeological) aspect of the biblical world; They also get into the literary elements equipping readers to understand every major genre of the Bible and how to discern the literary structure of individual books. Finally, the authors help the reader complete the interpretive journey by helping them make connections theologically (p. 555ff). Here they get into biblical theology and help the reader learn the various aspects of what is involved in biblical theology which ultimately is their desire for readers of Scripture to read the Bible on its own terms, in its own contexts (historical, literary, theological), and then draw theological understanding (what we learn about God, ourselves, and the world) from that. This is a strong point for the book as not too many books on hermeneutics cover biblical theology and how to do it. Another strong point is having case studies on select books of the Bible to show how the hermeneutical triad works in hopes of helping the reader understand how to read and apply the Bible.
Jesus, the all sufficient means of our salvation (Col 1:15-23)
- Sermon Title: Jesus: Creator of the world and the source of our salvation.
Text: Colossians 1:15-23
Sermon Introduction - 1. Contemporary Connection: I sort of like to cook. I am not always that great of a cook and do not usually cook meals that are too extravagant – actually much of the cooking I do is pretty straightforward sometimes. But over time I have learned the recipes of the meals I tend to make. I have become comfortable with them enough that on occasion I can guess how much of some ingredient I may need. How do I know, you ask? After a certain amount of experience you just know what to do. You know, like the chefs on TV, they know how much of each ingredient to use, it’s always a pinch of this, a bit that, handful of this, a cup of that, etc. Sometimes though we can get carried away and add too much. We always like to add stuff don’t we?
We can’t always be happy just to follow the recipe and leave it at that. We have to add things and mix things in.
Well, another thing I have learned is that certain ingredients don’t mix well – kind of like the whole thing with oil and water – they don’t mix. In some cases if we mix the wrong ingredients together they can result in sickness or even fatality. At some point we have to learn that certain things just don’t mix. Even so, with this knowledge I can be confident that when I make some food I am familiar with making, it will come out well.
In the Bible we’re going to see how Paul has to bring correction to the Christians in the Colossian church who were mixing Jewish theology and practice with Grecian and Roman philosophy/religion and practice. It was leading to disastrous results for the Christians there. The Colossian church was young and in a bit of a small town – they had not learned yet that certain things don’t mix. They were vulnerable to the pervading culture and the pressure others put on them to conform to the majority culture. They were too young in the Lord to know the difference sometimes. Today as we look at Colossians we are going to see all we need to know to be Christians: That Christ is all-sufficient for our salvation. - The central proposition: Jesus is the source and ruler of all creation. He is all we need for our salvation.
restate it: He is the image of God and the source of all creation who through his death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, provides all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God. restate it again: In Jesus is all the fullness of God and because of his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, he has supremacy over all creation.
The main points: In this passage we are going to see that because Jesus is image of God he is also the sole source of creation because his is the firstborn of all creation and by him all things were created. Next we’ll see that because through Jesus all things were made, he has supremacy over all creation. Finally, we’ll see that Jesus is all we need for our salvation. We don’t need to add anything or mix anything in. Jesus is all-sufficient for our life in God.
Announce the text and read the passage:Let’s read together Colossians 1:15-23.
Before we get into the passage I want to explain the historical situation a Colosssae. Understanding the historical background helpset the things Paul wrote in context helping us better understand the passage and why Paul wrote what he did, or why people needed to hear what he talked about.
The Situation at Colossae: In the first century, Colossae was in the province of Phrygia in Asia Minor, in the south part of what is now modern day Turkey. Phrygia was a place where religions and philosophies were often followed and practiced with intensity and sometimes frenzy. It was a small and socially unimportant city in the time of Paul though it was cosmopolitanin that cultural practices, religious ideas, and philosophies were varied and mixed together. Though small, it seems the situation with the church there was significant enough that Paul deemed it necessary to write them a letter. (It’s also possible that other churches in the area (e.g., Laodecia, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, etc.) were being affected by the same issues as at the church in Colossae and so Paul wrote one letter and asked that it be read to the other churches (see Col 4:16). Remember, Paul and his emissaries planted and established a lot of churches but he did not write letters to them all and to some he did but they were not included in the Bible. - In the church at Colossae and in many churches around the world today – the mixing I mentioned, also called, syncretism, was quite a common problem. What is syncretism? This is when people take aspects of two (or more) different religions (or religious philosophies, or even cultures) and blends them together. The Phrygians were heavy into mysticism (emphasis on experiences), asceticism (emphasis on self-denial), a multitude of philosophies, traditions, occultism, elemental spirits (focus on the elements),angel worship, and the like.Then there was Christianity (at this point still very much Judaism with a focus on Jesus as the Messiah – it was a young church). The Christians at Colossae still followed many of the common Jewish teachings and practices but were also influenced by the culture of Phrygia. It was very challenging to keep up with the culture while also trying to keep allegiance to Christ as God and Lord and not mixing the two. The mixing of the Phrygian ideas and Christian ideas turned into what some call the “Colossian heresy.” And to Paul, the “Colossian heresy” was very dangerous because set aside Jesus Christ as the Lord and ruler of all creation.
The “Colossian heresy” was a blend of ascetic practice and discipline, the cult of angelic worship and a pride in superior wisdom and knowledge (as a way to salvation from this world) and various Jewish/Christian practices and beliefs. When it comes to belief in Christ, the “Colossian heresy” implied there were spirit powers (over and above Christ) which controlled the natural world and which were to be revered as mediators between God and his creation. The result was that both the person and work of Christ were down played by this system of angelic mediators. It undermined and played down the Christians’ belief in Christ as Lord of Creation and all-sufficient redeemer of the church.
The way of salvation was asserted to be through fellowship with these angelic mediators. It was believed there was an impassable gulf between the universe and God’s presence. This gulf was called “the fullness” and it could only be bridged through acknowledgement and reverence of these angelic beings or elemental spirits. But it was all based on human knowledge and not true knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. What this did is lead the Colossian believers to believe they were alienated from God and unable to relate to him unless they emphasized a rigorous human spirituality based on asceticism and worship of the elemental spirits just like Phrygians did. What happened then was and it downplayed and undermined the gospel Paul had taught then through his emissaries - The heart of the gospel is the focus on the all sufficiency of Christ for our salvation and his supremacy over all creation because he is the first born of all creation. He is the source of all things and in him all things hold together.
- Main Point 1: Jesus is the sole source of all creation. He is all we need for our salvation.
Restate it: He is the image of the invisible God and the source of all creation who through his death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, provides all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God.
Restate it again: In Jesus is all the fullness of God and because of his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, he has supremacy over all creation.
The Phrygians were not believers in Christ – they were advocates of mystery religions and mystery philosophies, they worshiped the invisible elemental spirits – they believed that to key to salvation was to unravel the mystery. To do this they believed one needed special spiritual knowledge and contact with these invisible angelic mediators we talked about – they believed in a multiplicity of these angelic beings who would help pass the gulf between them and God – isn’t this what we do today? We’re still trying to accessGod by means other than Jesus Christ. Remember a few years ago the big fad about angels and how everyone has one and that you can talk to your angel? Things haven’t changed much have they?
With God, at one time things were mysterious and not all that we could know about him was known (well, there is still a lot to know of God but I digress). But now, God has revealed the mystery and his is fully open about who he is, how he works and what his intentions are. God who is invisible, has now become visible. He has done this through the person and work of his Son Jesus Christ. See, we believe the Bible is a progressive revelation from beginning to end. In Genesis we see a bit of God as “El Shaddai,” God Almighty. Then in Exodus he gave a fuller revelation of himself to Moses as YHWH. He gave Moses his name: I AM who I AM. Fast forward to the first century and we see that Jesus is now the full and complete revelation of who God is – in the person of Jesus of Nazareth the nature and being of God are perfectly revealed and he has made himself known completely and without reservation. If you want to know God, know Jesus. The Phrygians were confusing the Colossian Christians and pulling them from their understanding of Jesus – that he is image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation. That Jesus is the source of ALL creation.
He is the creator of ALL things because ALL things were created by him and for him – YOU were created by Jesus and for Jesus. He is over ALL things and in him ALL things hold together. He is the beginning and the end of ALL creation, he is its source and its means of existence. There is no more mystery, one doesn’t need angels or some special spiritual esoteric knowledge to gain access to God – all one needs is Christ and him alone. Jesus is the source of all creation and as its source and means he has supremacy over all creation, He is Lord of all add over all.Transition, restate main point; introduce next point. - Main Point 2: Jesus has supremacy over all creation.
Restate it: Because Jesus is before all creation, in everything, he has first place, meaning that he is before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance.
Jesus is superior to all other supposed gods and the elemental spirits – he made them so he is superior to them. Look at verse 16: For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He created all things therefore he is over them.
Again the Phrygians were implying through their beliefs that Christ was not over all – but was just another of the elemental spirits. I mentioned that the gulf between the universe and God was called “the fullness” and that the fullness could only be passed though acknowledgement of the elemental spirits. Paul takes on this philosophy head on and turns it around – in Jesus is “the fullness” of God and it is in him and through him that man is reconciled to God – it is in him and through him that the gulf has been bridged. Jesus is the fullness – the fullness is not some impassable gulf that can only be passed by angelic beings, rather Jesus Christ is the fullness – Jesus makes it possible to know and be known by God on personal terms! How did this happen? He did this through the blood of the cross – through his work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead – Jesus has become supreme over all creation and made it possible for us to be with God! We don’t need to add anything to this formula, we don’t need any extra ingredients because Jesus is all sufficient for our salvation – he is all we need. Again, in Jesus is all the fullness of God and because of his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, he has supremacy over all of creation.
Transition, restate main point; Jesus is the sole source of all creation. Because Jesus is before all creation, He is all we need for our salvation. He is the image of the invisible God and the source of all creation who through his death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, provides all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God.
introduce next point - Main point 3: Jesus is all-sufficient for our salvation!
Restate it: Jesus is all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God.
It is true there is a gulf between humanity and God – the gulf that separates us from God and alienates us from God is our sin and state of fallenness. Our sin separated us from God and it had caused us to be hostile toward God so that we would do evil deeds – were not at peace with God but rather at enmity with him. Because of our sin there is no way we can pass the gulf – not through the elemental spirits, not through varied philosophies or special spiritual knowledge, not through good works and loving lots of people (whatever that means) but only through Jesus Christ can humanity cross the gulf and be reconciled to God.
The cross of Christ has paid for our sin and made us acceptable to God, holy in his sight and free from blemish and free from accusation. If you want to have peace with God recognize that Jesus alone is both the Savior and Lord of all creation, that he is all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God – we don’t need to add any ingredients or mix extra stuff into the formula – Christ is all sufficient for our salvation.
Now, of course we need to stay strong in the faith, established and firm – not allowing others to move us from the hope of the gospel which is Jesus Christ and his sufficiency for our salvation. If we wander from that then we risk his all-sufficuency to save us. Note too, Paul says at the end of verse 23 that this is the gospel that has been proclaimed to all creation – it wasn’t shared in secret and is not a special spiritual knowledge – every person has access to God through Jesus Christ because “the ground is level at the foot of the cross” and all have equal access to God. - Sermon Conclusion:
Central Proposition: Jesus is the source and ruler of all creation. He is all we need for our salvation.
restate it: He is the image and full revelation of God and the source of all creation who through his death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, provides all we need for salvation and reconciliation with God.
restate it again: In Jesus is all the fullness of God and because of his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, he has supremacy over all creation.
May we now not try to obtain our great salvation on our own or through the ways of the world, but only through the all sufficient means of Jesus, his work on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
Joy
This is really good!
Ken writes: Friend, do you want more joy in your life? Learn to rejoice more. And whatever you do, don’t forget to hold onto the truth that persistent joy is yours in Christ.
“What are the joy-stealers? Why do so many of us struggle with joy?” I often ask my students this question when we open the book of Philippians.
“Time pressures.” “Financial pressures.” “Unfulfilled expectations.” “Hurts from the past.” These are common responses from my students. But Paul would point us toward two other foundational reasons for our lack of joy.
First, Paul would advise us that one of the reasons we struggle so much with joy is that we don’t rejoice enough. The themes of joy and rejoicing intertwine throughout the book of Philippians in such a way that a reader of that letter must conclude that joy and rejoicing are intricately connected to one another. We shouldn’t think of joy as one thing and rejoicing as a totally different thing. Joy is the noun, and rejoicing the verb, but the basic idea is the same. Thus, if we want more…
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Isaiah 35:1-10 – Joy in Advent
This week For advent is Joy – resposting and old sermon I did on that theme at the Grand Canyon.
Here is the sermon I did this weekend that I wanted to share with you all. Let me know what you think.
“The Joy of Transformation: Isaiah 35:1-10
Intro:
Do you watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? In my opinion it is one of the better shows on TV because of the good things they do for people who are often in such destitute situations that without help they will not get out of it – in desperation they send in a video application to the show and hope and dream that maybe Ty and the gang will one day show up at their home – to build them a new one! What is the response? Spontaneous shouts of Joy! What is the response when folks see the new house? Shouts of Joy and gladness that bring tears of happiness! Sometimes people will stand in awe and…
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Did David Rape Bathsheba?
David Sees Bathsheba Bathing
James Tissot
1836–1902
The Internet and Twitter have been abuzz once again with the issue of David’s affair with Bathsheba. The issue, once more, is whether David raped Bathsheba. The reason for all this discussion on social media is because a very famous pastor said in his sermon that David did not rape Bathsheba. According to him, David broke his marital vows. He committed adultery with Bathsheba but did not rape her.
When looking at the affair between David and Bathsheba, two things must be said of David. First, David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). God chose him to take the place of Saul as the king of Israel. God made a covenant with David and told him that he would “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:13).
The second thing that one must remember when discussing the…
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συνεσταύρωμαι: living the crucified life 