born and raised twice in the bay, I preach Jesus and him crucified
There is a particular kind of restlessness that comes from chasing what doesn't satisfy. You know it: the promotion that felt hollow after you got it, the relationship that promised fulfillment but delivered complexity, the approval you worked so hard to win that evaporated the moment you let someone down. We accumulate, achieve, and arrange... Continue Reading →
British Museum. (n.d.). Sarcophagus [Fragment from the front of a Roman sarcophagus in blue-veined marble, showing a marriage ceremony with dextrarum iunctio, the joining of right hands between bride and groom]. British Museum Collection Online. Churches today feel pressure to rethink almost everything about leadership. That pressure is not all bad; it can push us... Continue Reading →
Unknown photographer, River baptism postcard, International Center of Photography, from Take Me to the Water. Photographs of River Baptisms. Following Jesus means more than liking his teaching or admiring his character. It means yielding to his call. In the New Testament, baptism is not treated as a decorative act added to faith. It is the... Continue Reading →
Some falls are explosive. Others happen out of sight. Solomon’s fall did not start with a public denial. It started with loves that felt workable. Alliances that felt wise. Choices that looked manageable. Then Scripture speaks with clean force. His heart turned. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh:... Continue Reading →
“In this passage, redemption moves from darkness to light. From chaos to cosmos. From hostility to harmony.” Colossians 1 does not begin with advice. It begins with rescue. Paul says the Father “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” Colossians 1.13. The gospel names our old ruler,... Continue Reading →
Phillip W. Martin 