One of the biggest challenges to the faith of the average disciple is unanswered prayer. Why didn’t God answer my prayer? Why didn’t God heal my loved one who was suffering from cancer? Why didn’t God help my addicted child in the manner I asked him? Why am I still jobless (or single, or childless, […]
Breadcrumbs to Follow: Interpreting Historical Narrative
March 9, 2017 By
The non-Disneyized versions of Grimm’s Fairy Tales are pretty grim indeed. Cinderella’s stepsisters? They actually cut off digits in an effort to make that slipper fit. “Hey, that glass slipper is full of blood! You’re not she!” Worth a shot, I guess. Snow White? Remember at the end when the wicked queen is forced to […]
Local vs. International Missions
January 19, 2017 By
Some choices represent mutually exclusive options – I can either feast or fast, but I can’t do both simultaneously. I can move to Florida, or I can move to Bangladesh, but I can’t do both (at least not in the same time and dimension). Other choices are not of this variety, however. Most, in fact, […]
Interpreting Historical Narrative: Characters and Plot
December 15, 2016 By
Charles Dickens has lots to say about the horror of orphans living in Industrial Age London. But he doesn’t just come right out and say it. He tells his powerful and heart-rending tales, about poor little Oliver Twist, say. “Please, sir, I want some more….” Narratives don’t usually come out and tell you “the point.” […]
Historical narratives are historical narratives
December 8, 2016 By
In our last post, we began to explore the rules of the game for one particular biblical genre: historical narrative. This is a vitally important genre to properly understand, as it is far and away the largest type of literature found in the bible (at least 50%!). We discussed the fact that historical narratives are […]
