Matthew 12:1-8 is what scholars like to refer to as a freighted passage. If you think of a railroad engine pulling a large number of loaded boxcars behind it then you have the picture. It is simply a way of saying that a particular text contains a significant amount of material that needs to be unloaded andContinue reading “Understanding Scripture Through Understanding God”
Author Archives: A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green
Trap Doors And Trip Wires
That Matthew 7:21-23 is a powerful piece of Scripture, no one would deny or wish to dispute! The loving and gentle Jesus makes it clear that neither sweet words (“Lord, Lord”) nor spectacular deeds (driving out demons, performing miracles), are a substitute for a surrendered life. It’s clear that Jesus is saying something critical here, butContinue reading “Trap Doors And Trip Wires”
This Is Our Story (2)
It is Jesus the church bears witness to. Verse 16 makes it clear it is Jesus the church holds up for the world to see. If you think about it, we all bear witness to numerous things in our lives. If you are employed, you bear witness to some degree to your place of employment—youContinue reading “This Is Our Story (2)”
This Is Our Story (1)
1 Timothy is full of meaningful specifics such as when Paul talks about the assembly and the differing roles for men and women (2:8-15), gives the qualifications for elders and deacons (3:1-13), or talks about supporting certain widows (5:3-16). This is exactly the kind of thing we would expect to find when we think aboutContinue reading “This Is Our Story (1)”
The Key To The Church
There is a lot of misunderstanding about church. It would have been interesting if Jesus had asked the disciples in Matthew 16:13ff, “What do people say the church is?” But of course, the church didn’t exist at that time, so He couldn’t do that. Still, the text has it right—what we think about Christ isContinue reading “The Key To The Church”
Something About The Pastoral Letters
The term pastoral letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) is a bit of a misnomer. Timothy and Titus were not pastors in the sense in which the N.T. uses the word—that is, they did not limit their work to a single congregation as part of a group of mature men leading the congregation (seeContinue reading “Something About The Pastoral Letters”
The Blessing Of Mourning
Preachers are privileged to see life in all of its rawness as well as refinement. The refinement part tends to be the Sunday pageantry you see—people in their best and at their best. I have no problem with that. I know the good people against organized religion tend to think it’s all hypocrisy. It can be and sometimes isContinue reading “The Blessing Of Mourning”
Securing Your Treasure
Early one winter morning in 1994, two men pull up to the National Art Gallery in Oslo, Norway. From the trunk of their car, they withdraw a ladder they have stolen just minutes earlier from a construction site and prop it against the wall of the museum. One of the men starts up the ladder only toContinue reading “Securing Your Treasure”
Streamlining For The Kingdom
In 1981, three people got together at a restaurant and sketched out on a napkin an idea for an airplane. But it wasn’t just any airplane that Dick Rutan, his brother Burt, and Jeana Yeager had in mind. This one would be capable of doing what no plane had ever done before—fly around the worldContinue reading “Streamlining For The Kingdom”
Standing In The Storm
Followers of Jesus are no strangers to storms! They struggle with illness and disease, disability, hardship, discouragement, and every other affliction that is known to man. Belonging to Christ does not grant them immunity or exemption from any of these (though you wouldn’t always get that impression by listening to some of our prayers). There may be no atheistsContinue reading “Standing In The Storm”
