“I give some strong reactions to Burgon, but I want to plead for a little grace as I work to make sure I’m understanding him well.” - Mark Ward

“by insisting on truth telling in a season like this, and by denying active or tacit support to a movement that undermines the integrity of the church’s witness, you gain the modest comfort of being able to watch the world burn and know that you, at least, did not light the match.” - Acton

“several translation organizations are exploring first drafts generated entirely with NLP [Natural Language Processing]” - Biblical Archaeology

“The intention of this issue of FrontLine magazine is to focus the minds and hearts of the readers on the beauty of God.” - P&D

“The permanent things don’t cease to be true merely because folks in our political tribe flout the commands of Jesus.” - Denny Burk

Read the series.

Yeshua was in His small hometown, Nazareth. He had probably read the Scriptures aloud in the local synagogue many times before, and would have been known to all. Yet this was the first time He read thusly after His ministry had been launched and His fame widespread.

Many locals wondered if He might be the Messiah—or perhaps the expected Moses-like prophet.¹ The nature of the text He read demanded comment, but Yeshua’s bold but brief commentary enraged and antagonized his listeners.

“We need to be able to teach and preach what has always been understood as the Christian position on marriage and call out other views as errant.” - CPost

“When asked specifically what changed that they didn’t like, more than half (53%) said too many things in general changed…. (39%) said the church’s teachings on political or social issues changed….Three in 10 (31%) pointed to a change in the worship style.” - Lifeway

“From zero-alcohol beer to ‘potions,’ Colorado businesses are catering to those who want the taste and fun, without the alcohol” - ABC Denver

“But Republicans are less likely to say Trump is ‘religious’ — pointing to his support for religious people, not his personal religiosity, as their reasoning for saying he is a man of faith.” - Deseret News

“our obsession with celebrity conversions evinces a kind of favoritism Scripture explicitly prohibits (Gal. 2:6; 1 Tim. 5:21). James 2 warns us about this: ‘My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism’ ” - CToday

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Every day in every school, millions of schoolchildren are learning about God. In every subject.

Don’t think so?

Watch.

If there were no Bibles, we’d know a lot about God. For starters, we could just look around. If God created the world—and he did—then it’s a piece of art. And art tells us a lot about the artist. Just a glance at Picasso’s work tells us that he distorted the female form. Hmmm. I wonder if he had issues with women. Turns out he did.

“As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt said … ‘What parent would expose their child to so many documented risks from any other consumer product?’ So, why do we allow it with phones?” - Breakpoint

“Nothing complicated: I take a notebook, open the Bible, and start copying God’s words. One by one. I focus on the book I’m studying at that time.” - TGC

“What is the cause of this? There’s probably not one single answer to that question. Some of it is… overreaction to the retrieval of classical theism and Thomas Aquinas in Reformed circles.” - Ref21

“How did you do with your vows of Bible reading last year? I hope you established the habit, whether you made it all the way through the Bible or not.” - Don Johnson

“…contending for evangelical faithfulness in a time of confusion and compromise. To that end, I want to commend the following commitments of what I call classical evangelicalism.” - Nathan Finn

Review of the book Dispensational Hermeneutics by Michael Vlach. It is published by Theological Studies Press (Paperback and Kindle, 111 pages).

The subtitle of the book is “Interpretation Principles that Guide Dispensationalism’s Understanding of the Bible’s Storyline.”

Contents

Introduction

1) Key Elements of Dispensationalism’s Storyline
2) The Hermeneutics of Dispensationalism Part 1
3) The Hermeneutics of Dispensationalism Part 2
4) The Hermeneutics of Dispensationalism Part 3
5) The Hermeneutics of Non-Dispensationalism Part 1
6) The Hermeneutics of Non-Dispensationalism Part 2

Conclusion

“Around 47% of Americans feel hopeful about 2024, contrasting with 22% who feel discouraged and 31% experiencing mixed feelings, the poll results say.” - CPost

“From ancient Israelite DNA to a moat around Jerusalem, these are the discoveries that made scholars of the biblical world say ‘wow’ this year.” - CToday

“Americans’ confidence in institutions in 2023 represents the continuation of the historic confidence deficit recorded a year ago. None of the 15 institutions rated annually managed to repair their images, with many remaining at or near their all-time lows.” - Gallup

Statement: “The Southern Baptist Convention and its Executive Committee were each fully prepared to proceed to trial…. However, several factors ultimately made settlement the more prudent choice.” - BPNews

Related: Southern Baptists settle abuse lawsuit against legendary conservative leader Paul Pressler - RNS

We sometimes see Jesus’ mission as just personal salvation—a golden ticket away from a sinking ship. Christmas then becomes a celebration about the ticket going on sale for those who want it. In Psalm 72, Solomon shows us a Christmas vision that includes personal salvation, but is so much bigger than that.

Sermon no. 1816, delivered on Thursday evening, January 1st, 1885, by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”—Revelation 21:5.

“Intimacy with the Bible comes by slow, meditative reading that focuses on small portions—deep study of books, chapters, and verses. Familiarity with the Bible comes through faster reading of larger portions” - Challies

As we approach this New Year, our world is weighted down with manifold troubles. Yet believers in Christ need not succumb to despair. God’s Word gives us the capacity to discern God’s work in history—in light of the prophetic Scriptures. Jesus, in fact, entreated His followers to engage in this exercise, and chided those who were unable to “discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:3).

Surely the terror attacks which Hamas inflicted upon Israel on October 7, 2023—along with all that has unfolded since that time—give us much food for thought in this regard as we turn our calendars over to 2024. But how can we evaluate these things? To put it simply, what’s ahead for Israel—and what does it mean for us?

“Latter-day Saints make up just 42% of the population of Utah, according to a new study…. far lower than the 60% cited just a few years ago in The Salt Lake Tribune” - RNS

“The bottom line is pastors must stay longer to make progress at churches. What once could be done in five years now takes at least seven years.” - Church Answers

“The perverse effect of the Freedom Caucus…has been to push policy to the left. By refusing to compromise and therefore making it impossible for the House to act, they often empower the Democratic Senate to wield greater power.” - Law & Liberty

“the woes of contemporary Catholicism are not so easily separated from those of contemporary conservative Protestants at this point.” - Carl Trueman