Because Good Friday is this week, it is fitting to publish John Milton’s never-completed poem entitled The Passion (ca. 1620):¹

Erewhile of music, and ethereal mirth, 
Wherewith the stage of Air and Earth did ring, 
And joyous news of heavenly Infant’s birth, 
My muse with Angels did divide to sing; 
But headlong joy is ever on the wing, 
In wintry solstice like the shortened light 
Soon swallowed up in dark and long outliving night. 

For now to sorrow must I tune my song, 
And set my Harp to notes of saddest woe, 
Which on our dearest Lord did seize ere long, 
Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse than so, 
Which he for us did freely undergo: 
Most...

Used with permission from As I See It, which is available free by writing to the editor at dkutilek@juno.com.

Rejoice with me, for I have finally completed a task begun 19 years ago—the reading of all three volumes of Calvin’s commentary on the Synoptic Gospels. I began vol. 1 (477 pp.) on February 15, 2000, and completed it on June 19 of that year (see review and extended quotations in As I See It 3:9). I began vol. 2 (456 pp.) sometime in 2012, and completed its reading on February 8, 2013 (review and quotations, As I See It 16:3). I launched into vol. 3 (395 pp.) shortly thereafter, but made small progress, and soon set it aside. Then, in February...

Read Part 1.

I’m somewhat familiar with “where Minnesota golf was born,“ because the Minnesota Mayflower Society where I serve as a board member has our annual Thanksgiving banquet at the storied Town and Country Club in Saint Paul.

As the first “country club” in these parts, Town & Country Club was more of a social organization inspired by the clubs in Saint Paul that were formed as a nucleus of the annual Winter Carnival. A residence on Lake Como was the first clubhouse in 1887. The Club moved to its present home at the Marshall Avenue Bridge on the Mississippi River in 1890. Today, this “country club” is in the heart of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but in 1890...

This is a serialized adaptation of my forthcoming Easter sermon in article form. This isn’t a traditional Easter message. Instead of simply presenting the resurrection, I challenge visitors to think about the bankruptcy of their secular worldviews, as compared to the Christian faith and message. This appeal culminates in a brief explanation of the resurrection, its place in the Christian story, and an appeal to “come in from the cold” (so to speak) and join God’s family.¹  

When Jesus commands people to “repent and believe the Gospel,” what does He mean by that? What does it mean to “believe?” What does it mean to “have faith?”

Bad distortions

There are many distortions of what “faith” and “belief” are, in a Christian...

By Matthew Carpenter. Republished with permission from Baptist Bulletin © Regular Baptist Press. All rights reserved.

Every week in churches all across the world, people gather under the banner of Jesus and go through the motions of congregational worship. For some it’s a blessing; for others it’s a chance to critique. Some people disengage all together, and some people just disengage their brains and jack up their emotions.

What are we actually doing and why are we doing it? Is there a right way? Is there a better way?

Musical Roots

I grew up in a musical family, or perhaps a better way to say it, I was trapped in a musical Alcatraz with the cast of...

Below is Part 3 of an ongoing series on “The Meaning of Matthew 5:17-19.”

With my last post, I argued that “the Law or the Prophets” and “Law” in Matthew 5:17-18 referred to the Old Testament in its entirety. This is contrary to the popular idea that Jesus was addressing the Mosaic Law only, especially with Matthew 5:18. The purpose of this post is to examine the term, “abolish,” in 5:17. What did Jesus mean when He said that He did not come to “abolish” the Law or the Prophets?

A Word about Word Studies

This study and the one after this will focus on the meanings of the terms “abolish” and “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17-18. But first a note about words and word studies is appropriate.

As with all words,...

Read the series.

Block’s Challenge

Recently the Old Testament scholar Daniel Block has vigorously challenged the whole Cosmic Temple thesis.¹ Even if his counter-arguments are somewhat provisional,² and he retains certain questionable positions on some matters (e.g. the presence of a covenant in Eden,³ violence beyond Eden,⁴ Jesus replacing the Jerusalem temple⁵), I think he has banged more than...

Through an unusual set of circumstances, I am now the treasurer of a church that I was barely acquainted with one year ago.

A year ago, I was 2 months past 39 radiation treatments for cancer and my cancer doctor gave me the news that the regimen was apparently successful. As an aside, doctors never commit to the word “cured.” But so far so good! My pastor commented to me, “I guess God is not finished with you yet!”

My wife and I began to pray, what would God have me to do with my retirement time?

In June, I became aware that a small church in an exurb about 25 miles NW of us needed a treasurer. Their treasure had resigned, and no one had stepped up to volunteer. I contacted the pastor and indicated that I would be interested in the position. He was just about to go...