Think Wink.

Because of the length of this post, I decided to break it into two smaller ones rather than one long one. So please see “To Fulfill What Was Spoken By The LORD 1/2″ to catch up here. I am just going to launch right into the second part of my look at how Jesus’ flight to Egypt fulfills what was spoken by Yahweh in Hosea 11:1. Read more

How Long Oh Lord

Making Sense of a Cruel World.

Reading the Text Rightly

This Christmas, as I reflect on the incarnation narrative in Matthew 2 I find myself guilty of something I didn’t realize: I blindly accepted the prophecies Matthew says Jesus fulfilled as verbal-predictive prophecy concerning Jesus. Sure I didn’t think that they were going to say “Jesus, a.k.a. Yahweh Elohim, born from a woman who has never engaged in sexual activity from the town of Nazareth in Bethlehem during a census ordered by the Roman government when Augustus Caesar was in power.” I always just accepted that the prophecies here were about Jesus. Granted it has been a while since I realized that the “Immanuel” passage was a bit more complex to see how it gets to Jesus but texts like Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:5 I never really let it sink in. But recently it hit me that I had never tried to work out how these Old Covenant prophecies point the way to Christ given their literary and historical and theological settings. Today I want to just go through Hosea 11:1 and how Jesus going to Egypt is fulfillment of what Yahweh had said through the prophet. Read more

To Fulfill What Was Spoken By The LORD 2/2

How Long Oh Lord

Making Sense of a Cruel World.

This movie looks amazing!!!!!!

Saturday Mornings are Gonna Get REAL Fun Again

The Merc with a Mouth on the Big Screen

Oh Crap, I’m Cyclops.

I thought that the graphic novel was a good read overall. It got kind of quirky and hoaky at points but still good. I think the movie will correct what I didn’t like and keep what I did. Here’s the trailer.

Watching Watchmen Lightheartedly

Reviewing Watchmen

Transformers: The Movie

Introduction
In another post on God seeking his own glory, Tom and I had a wonderful discussion on some different texts that really had this issue at heart. One text that came up was Genesis 50:20 which reads,

As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. (NET)

To give his take, Tom has written a two-post reply (the second post has yet to be put up as I write this). This is my response to what he wrote. My response is in two areas: a.) textual and b.) theological. I am going to put both responses here in this one post so forgive the length if it gets long. Read more

Impugned Justice?

Something to Chew On

Determinism and Author of Sin

Most people know that Star Trek is being being released this May to reboot the franchise for the more modern audience. It features new faces with very familiar names to the Star Trek universe. However, how many people knew about this little flick?

Yeah like this past year, I’m pumped for May!!

[Edit: I linked to the Star Trek trailer here just because its sooooo dang good!]

Why Did I Take That Class?

Oh Wow…What am I thinking?

Reviews of N. T. Wright’s New Book

So I was going to post on Matthew’s use of Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15. Before I begon to think about Matthew’s use I wanted to compare the Hebrew and LXX of Hosea 11, trying to see how similar the two are and which one Matthew was using. When I get to that post I will try to argue for which one I think Matthew is using but what caught my eye is how little of the Hebrew I see in the LXX of Hosea 11. Here is my rendering of Hosea 11:1-11 LXX and tell me if that seems like what you read in the Hebrew (English translations follow the Hebrew so I am not going to reproduce a Hebrew translation this post)?

1 Since Israel was an infant and I loved him and out of Egypt I recalled his children. 2 Just as I recalled them so they left me. They sacrificed to the Baalim and offered incense to the carved idols. 3 I bound the feet of Ephraim and took him upon my arm and they didn’t know that I had healed them. 4 In the destruction of people I strecthed them in the bonds of my love and I will be to them as a person who strikes his cheeks and I will watch over him closely and I will be capable with him. 5 Ephraim settled in Egypt and Assour himself was his king because he didn’t want to return. 6 The sword was weak in his cities and put to rest in his hand. They will eat the fruit of their schemes. 7 The people hang in his residence and God will be angered at his precious possessions and will not raise him up. 8 “Ephraim, what will I do you? Will I shield you? Will I do with you like I did with Adama and Seboim? My heart was changed and my sense of regret was disturbed. 9 I will not do according to the wrath of my anger. I will not leave Ephraim to be wiped away because I am deity and not a man, holy among you. I will not go into a city.” 10 I will go after the Lord; as the lion roars he will roar and even the children of the waters will stand still. 11 They will stand like a bird from Egypt and as a dove from the land of Assyria. I will make them stand in their homes, says the Lord.

It starts out okay but man it kinda goes a weird direction for a little while until the very end when it comes back to more of what the Hebrew says. Ya know, there are dynamic translations and man then there is the LXX, sometimes. The general point is there but I have a hard time figuring out what they were doing with the Hebrew here.

To Fulfill What Was Spoken By The LORD 2/2

Son, Son, Or Servant and Mark 1:11 Part 3

To Fulfill What Was Spoken By The LORD 1/2

How can you not think this is not amazing artwork by Alex Ross? I’m just curious as to why everyone is looking at Captain America as he faces off against Steve Rogers/1940’s Cap? Wait, Bucky is fighting Steve Rogers? Does this cover clue the reader into what is going on in the story or not? I can’t wait to read it next month!

Captain America #600

He’s Coming…

Bucky Meets Bucky?

Yes that is Bucky joining the New Avengers team in the post Secret Invasion lineup. I found this picture here (if link doesn’t work go here and scroll down until you see the pic). It is nice to see that Brubaker has let Bucky join broader Marvel Universe. It’s also nice to see Captain America back on the Avengers since Steve Rogers’ untimely death at the hands of the Red Skull in Captain America #25. The Avengers will feel more like the Avengers again. The only question now is how will Bucky, a man who spent most of his life as the world’s most elite assassin who worked alone, work as a part of a team? How will the New Avengers handle having Bucky on their team? Yes Bucky was part of the Invaders but that was during World War II! I think Bendis will handle this dynamic very well, but I’m curious. You know what really stings me? Brubaker announced that Bucky would be joining the New Avengers in Captain America #43 when the Black Widow said he was fitting in nicely with the unregistered heroes. Wow I feel like an idiot for not taking such a major clue so serious!

Bucky Meets Bucky?

They Have Returned

Dark Reign: The List–Avengers

I still have no idea why this is part 9 of 5 but I find it fun. No clue just do. In this post I just want to deal with an objection that was raised in this video to the double payment argument. You can find Dr. White coming to similar conclusions on his Dividing Line webcast from 12-02-08 (Dr. White also explains what the double payment argument is in this webcast). In this post I want to posit Dr. White’s illustration of DP (double payment) and the objection raised against it and then respond to the objection. As with my previous post on the objections to limited atonement, I’m not going to reassert a defense of the doctrine but rather refute the objection. Read more

Objections to Calvinism Part 1 of 5

Objections to Calvinism Part 7 of 5

My Comfort in Romans 9