Kingdom of God vs. Kingdom of Heaven: A Meaningful Difference?

Having seen in the prior posts (1 | 2) the priority of the kingdom in the gospels – both in declaring Jesus the rightful king over all and in Jesus’ own preoccupation with the kingdom – we must ask an important question. Is there a meaningful difference between the term “kingdom of God” and “kingdom [...]

Jesus’ Preoccupation with the Kingdom

In the previous post, I introduced what will be an ongoing look at the kingdom of God. The first contention was that the primary polemic and purpose of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was to establish Jesus as the rightful king. At his birth, at his trial and at his death, the [...]

Slaying the Money Idol

Over on FB and Twitter, I referenced an article over at Faith and Leadership that asks, “Should pastors know what members give?” I wasn’t even really trying to push one answer, just referencing F&L article as it offered some useful insights. This set off quite a discussion, but most of the objections center around money [...]

Hypocritical: Part 2 – A look at Matthew 23

In part 1 we saw the perception the world has of us: we are hypocrites. Before we can consider how to reframe that perception, we must turn to Matthew 23, the seminal passage on the topic. Six times in this passage Jesus calls the Pharisees “hypocrites.” While the entire passage is relevant, we are going [...]