born and raised twice in the bay, I preach Jesus and him crucified
Philosopher in Contemplation, By Rembrandt “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” (Proverbs 18:17, ESV) It is easy to hear a story and take it at face value. The first version always sounds convincing. The details line up, the emotion is strong, and the whole thing... Continue Reading →
Maybe the call to go for you is just one step, not a cross-country move, not an upheaval of everything you know. It's just one step of faith, one decision to trust God more than you trust the comfort of staying put. I met Ruth Hooper1 when I was 19. She wasn't famous. She and... Continue Reading →
The vision of messianic hope within Jewish communities was dynamic, responding to shifting historical and political landscapes. Early visions of a Davidic monarch ruling a restored Israel gradually expanded into expectations of a cosmic redeemer with a role in universal restoration. Jewish communities interpreted and reimagined messianic hope in response to their lived experiences. As... Continue Reading →
The idea that the Hebrew Bible tells a story that ultimately leads to Jesus is not new. It is how the earliest followers of Jesus understood it. From the moment He began teaching, Jesus reshaped how people read their Scriptures. He told His disciples that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms were all pointing... Continue Reading →
There is a phrase that comes up often in the Old Testament: “devoted to destruction.” It sounds heavy, and, well, it is. The Hebrew term behind it is ḥerem (חֵרֶם), a word that carried serious weight in the ancient world. When something or someone was ḥerem, it was not just condemned. It was handed over to God, often through total destruction.
Phillip W. Martin 