An Unjustified Emphasis on Justification?

I’m preaching through Romans right now in my youth group, which means that a lot of issues related to justification and the like have been on the top of my mind. So I suppose that could be part of why I loved Tanner Gish’s post at The Two Cities* about whether or not we over-emphasize justification to the demise of a healthy view of sanctification. Or maybe it’s just because it’s a great post. Here’s a clip: In his... Read More

A Thorough Look at Alcohol in the Old Testament

John Dunne is a good friend of mine who loves two things that I love: biblical exegesis and craft beer. So I’m not surprised to see that he has posted a pretty amazing piece on his new blog (“The Two Cities“, which looks quite promising, judging by the look of the blog and the team of contributors), organizing the teaching of nearly every verse of the Old Testament that deals with alcohol. His conclusion is that except for in special... Read More

Girl vs. Food L.A.

My wife and I have recently been discussing how much we love living in the greater Los Angeles area. For all the classic drawbacks (There’s a lot of smog and traffic and it’s too expensive. I know. Shut up.) L.A. is a remarkable place. Reason #1 for the surge in L.A. love has been our appreciation for the cultural diversity. And of course one of the best things about cultural diversity is the resulting culinary diversity. That’s... Read More

The Treat that is Jeremy Treat

He’s probably heard that pun a few too many times in his life, but Jeremy Treat’s blog is so good that he’ll just have to hear it again. When prepping for a sermon this past week I got on the Google and did an image search for Grunewald’s Crucifixion (the painting that famously hung over Karl Barth’s desk and less famously hangs on the right side of this blog post).  I found the picture at Mr. Treat’s blog, and... Read More

Free DVD of Zac Heath’s The River Within

Interested in a free copy of the movie The River Within on DVD?  Interested in a Christian movie-maker who is making a point of not being preachy in his films?  Interested in insightful movie reviews? Well, then I have just the place for you.  On his Conversant Life blog, my brother Chris interviewed Zac Heath about the process of making movies, etc.  In the process, Heath offered up a few free DVD copies of his movie.  So if you just click this... Read More