Review of ‘Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels’ by Richard Hays
Review of Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels,* Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017, 524 pages, paperback.
Is Eternal Generation Essential to the Gospel? Charles Lee Irons and Matthew Barrett
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“While some may claim that eternal generation is an extra-biblical doctrine without scriptural warrant, Charles Lee Irons and Matthew Barrett demonstrate that the concept is seen throughout Scripture through familial imagery and other significant metaphors.” - Credo
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“A Thousand to None”: What Did Solomon Mean?
Ecclesiastes 7:27-28 in the ESV reads:
27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
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Book Review: Living in a Gray World
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“We have been waiting for a book to help Christian teens navigate questions about sex and gender. This book seems to fit the bill… . Unfortunately, this is not the right book to give to teens in your life because its many strengths are intertwined with dangerous strands of worldly thinking.” - Ref21
Discussion
John the Baptist’s Kingdom Message
There is no doubt that John’s chief function was to announce the arrival of the Coming One of OT expectation. Yet by his own admission he did not know Jesus as such until Jesus’ baptism (Jn. 1:33). Hence, for some time prior to his pointing to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29), John preached less specifically of the imminent arrival of Israel’s Messiah. He testified that when he baptized Jesus, He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him in the form of a dove.
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Are we Living in the Last Days?
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“…no one will be looking, expecting, or prepping when Jesus returns. No books, math equations, or solar moon eclipses will give us any hint when this will be.” - Treg Spicer
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Does God love all kinds of music because He invented it all?
—Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan, 2002, p. 65
In my opinion, the truthfulness of these claims that Warren makes are some of the most fundamental points of dispute in the worship music wars.
Discussion
Why I Write This Column
Somewhere, along life’s way, I was bitten by the bug for writing.
My passion is not so much for writing itself—though I realize that there are people like that. But for me is has more to do with a desire to express my opinion and provide meaningful and useful—Biblically based—content.
It is hard to say exactly when the bug first bit. I can remember making scrapbooks of sports stories clipped out of the newspaper back in my preschool days. Then I remember when I was old enough to read sports columns—and dream of writing my own one day.
Discussion
John the Baptist and Elijah
The Puzzle
Jesus testified of John the Baptist that, “if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matt. 11:14). John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord. Therefore, when Jesus will later speak in reference to John the Baptist, as “Elijah…come already” (Matt. 17:12-13), He is saying that John was an Elijah-figure, even though John himself had told the people that he was not Elijah (Jn. 1:21).
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Book Review: John Piper Goes Further Up and Further Into the Doctrine of God’s Providence
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“In the introduction, Piper opens the door to see God and his world anew, offering four invitations to study God’s providence. These are invitations to worship and know the God who ‘did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all,’ and to find assurance that through his providence he will ‘graciously give us all things,’ very much including Christ himself (Rom.
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