A few weeks ago, I read Andy Crouch's book Culture Making (from IVP) . This book is simply amazing and the website...
The prophecies of Isaiah often convey the Lord’s displeasure with his people. Because of their persistent rebellion against him, God will finally allow them to reap the sour fruit of their sin. But...
We Christians have the idea that God will "call" us to service. There are things that need doing in this world, and we expect God will call us to do some of them...
In Isaiah 44, God speaks through the prophet to highlight his divine uniqueness. Though there are many other “gods,” they are mere idols, formed by human hands from material elements. For example,...
Faith has surely been on display in this election cycle. The front-runners for both parties have all been people of demonstrable faith, all articulate about how faith shapes them in the public...
During presidential election cycles, a field of ambitious, talented candidates vies for attention. They travel endlessly, deliver countless stump speeches, give interviews, raise money, and engage...
Though, in the past, God had done marvelous things for his people, most of all delivering them from Egypt (43:16-17), he wasn’t finished. In fact, he was beginning through the prophecies of Isaiah...
Isaiah 42:24 acknowledges that the Lord himself “allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt.” The original Hebrew of this verse speaks of God as “giving up” Jacob to the looter and Israel to the...
In Isaiah, the Servant of God will open blind eyes, free the captives, and release the prisoners. These tasks were part of...
Tod Bolsinger has a post up at It Takes a Church... called Is the Head the Problem or the Problem the Head? It's heart-wrenching in its honesty. But it is also a great...
Too many books, too little time. ...
Karl Edwards has been blogging and recording his podcast, Working Matters, for several years now. After spending some time studying at Fuller...
As the children of Israel were buffeted about by the more powerful nations of the Ancient Near East, no doubt they sometimes felt like “a lowly worm.” This image conjures up a sense...
Tony Jones has been the national coordinator of Emergent Village (www.emergentvillage.org). He is currently theologian-in-residence at Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and a...
According to his website, "Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village (www.emergentvillage.org), and a doctoral fellow in practical theology at Princeton...
Today’s passage begins by proclaiming the power of God. When he comes, “he will rule with a powerful arm.” Given what we’ve seen so far in Isaiah, we might expect the next statement...
Just this morning, I was gazing out of our kitchen window, watching the first signs of autumn in our backyard. The leaves on our Spanish Oak trees are just beginning to turn. The...
With occasional oases of hope, the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah are a desert of divine judgment. But then, beginning with Isaiah 40, the tone changes. Though the Lord is still a God of...
Hezekiah was one of the most pious and faithful kings of Judah. Chapters 37 and 38 of Isaiah testify to his exemplary trust in the Lord. But then, in Isaiah 39, we see...
As Isaiah 38 begins, King Hezekiah was deathly ill. In fact, Isaiah came to him with a word from the Lord that Hezekiah would soon die. In response to this bad news, Hezekiah...
