Posts with the category “bible-and-theology”

If our God has revealed Himself in His Word, then where else are we to go if we want to know Him as He desires to be known? In all honesty, I believe wholeheartedly in the vast importance of biblical ...  Read More

The Israelite matriarch Rachel is renowned for her beauty. But when we first meet Rachel in the book of Genesis, we read about her vocation. Rachel was a shepherdess, and her work teaches us something...  Read More

In our last post, we saw that the ascension is actually the culmination of Jesus’ life and ministry. Because of the ascension, at this moment Jesus speaks, intercedes, and rules from heaven as our per...  Read More

Reading about Jesus' ascension feels like hearing someone recount a strange dream. But the gospel writers, the apostles, and the early church saw the ascension as a central part of the life and minist...  Read More

Why do bad things happen? It’s a question my daughter has been asking in her first philosophy class. It’s a question I’ve been asking in the wake of my bike accident. In fact, it’s a question I’ve hea...  Read More

This morning I sat in my bed with a 13-month-old playfully swatting at my Bible. Eagerly exploring cause and effect, the baby kept closing the book, looking up at me, and giggling. I responded with cr...  Read More

As Joseph and Mary crested the last hill into Bethlehem, Mary thought that she had never in her life been so happy to reach a destination. They had been traveling for several days, their trip made sli...  Read More

When we read and study the Bible together, whether it’s as part of a community group, a formal Bible study, or just a few friends meeting over coffee (or virtually via Zoom or an online app), we parti...  Read More

If you’ve been at Cornerstone for very long you’ve probably heard us talk about The Discipleship Pathway. Born out of a desire to help bring simplicity and order to the principles of our faith, The Di...  Read More

“...Caiaphas understood with a jolt that this man was no man at all, but the corpse who had been buried in the tomb before him, somehow no longer dead but alive.”...  Read More

“Jesus watched her in silence. As she lowered the vessel into the mouth of the well, he spoke softly so as not to startle her. ‘Will you share your water with a weary traveler?”...  Read More

From the beginnings of the church those who followed Jesus testified to their faith by telling the story of their own conversion. “Testimony” was an important part of verifying a true change of heart....  Read More

A few weeks ago we were reflecting as a family on what the kids discussed in Junior Church when I noticed their answers were starting to get a little rote— “Jesus,” “The Bible,” “God can do anything.....  Read More

Scientific advances play a large role in our lives. Maybe you’re reading this article on a computer, a device made possible by understanding and controlling the flow of electrons. Or maybe you’re read...  Read More

My father wasn’t a big part of my life, so my maternal grandfather was probably the biggest male influence for me growing up. Even though he lived in Jamaica and I lived in America and I only really s...  Read More

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.”—James 3:13I have studied or worked in educational institutions for nearly all of my lif...  Read More

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” -Psalm 125:1It’s not hard for Christians who read their Bibles (yes, there are many who don’t, but I know ...  Read More

I’ve been on a bit of a reading kick lately. From novels with my Kinder moms book club and middle elementary audio books on the drive home, to parenting books by neuroscientists and heady theological ...  Read More

All humans know that eternity is coming. A lot of us do our best to forget it. It can be disorienting to think about the fact that we will die and the universe will keep on going. Eternity is a long t...  Read More

In parts one and two, we looked into Hannah’s culture as well as the words in her song to earn some insight into what God is showing us through her story. In this final post of the series, I want to c...  Read More

n part one of our look at the biblical character of Hannah, we considered the cultural context of the time period that helps set the stage for Hannah’s desperate plea for a child. We left off the stor...  Read More

When trying to understand and apply Biblical narrative, some of our usual Bible study techniques can fall short. Diagramming sentences, for instance, doesn’t always give us the kind of insight into a ...  Read More

I think it’s fair to say that I have a sweet-tooth. My fellow pastors gained this little nugget of insight into my person during our recent Elder Retreat. All of them were filled with amazement/envy a...  Read More

If you are a woman in the Church, you have likely participated in some kind of Bible study about one of the female heroes of our faith. Ruth, Esther, Sarah, Hannah, Mary—there are a slew of women that...  Read More

To most people the American war in Vietnam comes off as a huge mess.It was ‘my’ war since I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s. In my sophomore year in college I was drafted. I spent a month of sleeples...  Read More

“Mary could feel the excitement of those around her, exclaiming and praising, shouting and even crying as they rejoiced at the sight of this man entering the city like a king.”...  Read More

"Life can seem more deeply disappointing as you accumulate years and experiences...Yet all of us, at every age, struggle with how life isn't working." "Autumn is really the best of seasons; and I'm no...  Read More

"The church is so much more than a building, but it is also so much more than a program."What do you think of when you think of “the church”?  Some people think of a building.  They equate the church ...  Read More

“The rage on the faces of his fellow Pharisees was palpable, and although Nicodemus had determined to remain as neutral as possible, he could no longer sit idly by.”...  Read More

“From that first day, when Jesus had called him and his brother as they fished near the banks of the Sea of Galilee, his life had been turned upside down.”...  Read More

“You see, lacking this kind of gentle humility is not just unhealthy or problematic. It’s demonic.”    Many of us have had that strange experience before. The one where you hear a Bible verse from a b...  Read More

“Science asks, ‘HOW are we here?’ Faith asks, ‘WHY are we here?’”    One way of framing the science/Bible dispute over origins is saying that these two approaches frame the question differently. Scien...  Read More

“From our perspective, both Jesus and Moses made poor choices. Both of them seem to have abandoned a pretty useful life-plan and instead become a one-man national wrecking ball.” Ken Myers, the founde...  Read More

“...If we zoom out and take into perspective Eve’s life as a whole, remembering that she was a real person, we can see there is so much more to her story.”Imagine that your entire life was defined by ...  Read More

“Christian, you have been justified by the blood of Christ, and are therefore free from the crushing burden of having to justify yourself through your performance.”    In the movie “Chariots of Fire”,...  Read More

“Humble submission to God requires that I make a diligent effort to make myself familiar with the whole Bible.”    Where I live, I am considered the handy one. That includes my own family and the fami...  Read More

“The Bible has always used light and darkness, blindness and sight, as metaphors for our spiritual understanding. Salvation is a matter of God opening blind eyes by shining light into the darkness. Sp...  Read More

I was out to dinner with a group of non-Christian friends one evening when I was suddenly and unexpectedly put on the spot.“Alina, if an atheist is really, really good his whole life, can he go to Hea...  Read More

“Through the ups and downs of life I pray that the constant reality for you is your experience of the love of God.”    In conjunction with our “Letters to a Healthy Church” sermon series, each pastor ...  Read More

"Jesus gives us clothes of salvation and righteousness that we can't earn, can't buy, and can't find here on the earth."    When I was a kid, I had a children's book that told the story of The Emperor...  Read More