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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (The search for the real Jesus, Part 2)

Love for Samaritans and women Jesus passed through Samaria in chapter 4 with the evident purpose of bringing the gospel to the Samaritans. This is crazy. After all — * Samaritans were known to kill Jews who passed through their … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (The search for the real Jesus, Part 1)

So who is this Jesus? Well, let’s pick out a few characteristics we find in John. (It would be fun to work through the Synoptics as well, as there is so much more and different material in them, but this … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (Jesus, who doesn’t look like me)

So what does that tell us? It’s subtle, but it’s an important starting point. Jesus was a Jew. The gospel went to the Jews first. Therefore, Jesus was sent to the Jews. Jesus was circumcised, looked like Jew, and wore … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: “Who Is This ‘Son of Man’?” (the invisibility of Jesus’ Jewishness)

Well, we started this — months ago — with this question: Who is this “Son of Man”? The question is borrowed from — (John 12:34 NIV) The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will … Continue reading

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Drawin’ On the Walls

My oldest son, Chris, has written a musical — book, lyrics, and music — called “Drawin’ on the Walls.” The F.U.D.G.E. Theater in Boston will host the world premier April 26 – May 4. Here’s a video teaser posted by … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 5 (The Women of John)

Another theme that subtly threads through the Gospel is the way Jesus treats women. Jesus went out of his way to elevate women. For example, in John 4, Jesus’ goal was to bring the gospel to the Samaritans. This was … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 4.1 (Why Heal on the Sabbath?)

There’s another point in John that’s far from obvious unless you study the entire book at once. One of the major themes of the book is Jesus’ insistence on healing on the Sabbath. Really? Yep. In John 5, Jesus heals … Continue reading

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The Untimely Demise of Google Reader, Continued

As Matt Dabbs has also concluded, so far, my favorite replacement for Google Reader is Feedly. Feedly is — * Free * Available as an iPhone, Kindle, or Android app * Available for Firefox, Safari, or Chrome (no IE) on your desktop … Continue reading

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Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes and Leadership Training for Christ, Continued

As I said in the original post, I’ve never been involved with either program. I have no standing to criticize either. But I have been extensively involved in youth ministry for a very long time — probably about 35 years … Continue reading

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John’s Gospel: Reflections on John’s Gospel, Part 3 (On a Mission from God)

Mission And so why does God change us? Just so we’ll be good company in heaven? No, at least in part, it’s about mission. Notice the emphasis in John on “send” and “sent” (62 occurrences in the ESV!) That has to … Continue reading

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