This popular worn-out cliché has been echoed in many sermons, monologues, YouTube videos, Instagram reels, and the like. Those who usually vocalize this claim tend either to have no formal theological training, have never entered seminary, and consider it the end of a devotional life. The term, cemetery, gets its wording from the spiritually dead…
Tag: church
Jesus, the Prince of Demons?
An interpreative work on Matthew 12:22-37 The drama of what I consider as the Beelzebul controversy unfolds in this narrative of Matthew that has dealt with Jesus’ public ministry which has sparked outrage with the Jewish religious leaders. This contesting from the miraculous works has caused tension and accusation towards the messiah of using demonic…
An Exegetical look into Galatians 5:16-25
The book of Galatians provides the reader with a landscape of Pauline theology that guides the discussion of living according to the way of the Spirit. The Gospel is the central theme that surrounds much of what the apostle is explaining in addressing the social and even racial divisions that have developed in the church…
Confessions Of A Christian Cop In The Wake Of George Floyd
As I begin to reflect upon the past weeks and the events of May 25, my heart is grieved and spirit heavy with the burden of carrying this shield. For 17 years, I’ve worked in some of the most poverty-stricken and violent neighborhoods across the country, desensitized to the reality of racism even coming from…
The Pistis Christou Debate
The Pistis Christou debate has been a problematic phrase uttered in Pauline literature among scholars and continues to be the subject of immersing new interpretations. The two main exegetical arguments center on the genitive use of the phrase found in the third chapter of Romans and other epistles (Gal.2:16.20,3:22; Eph.3:12; Phil.3:9). The objective (anthropological) or faith in Christ’s…
A Interpretative Review of Romans 3:21-31
Paul’s exposition of the Gospel has now reached its rhetorical peak and in some way, the heart of the epistle can be located within these verses that accentuates the saving work of Christ. The apostle has been arguing against any distinction from Jew and Gentile towards God’s judgment and wrath that involves a transition of…
The Calm Found In The Chaos
“The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter.” Isa. 24:10 If you are reading this then you are quite aware of the pandemic surrounding COVID-19 and its worldwide effect on the very fabric of our livelihood. Shelves that were once filled have been replaced by emptiness and scarcity…
Cultivating a Culture of Honor
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:10 There is a growing concerning that continues to plague our pews and that is the need for developing and cultivating a culture of honor. Honor can be described as a social term in the evaluation of one another which can include…
The Costliness of Grace
In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship, he seeks to infuse the biblical concept of grace as a dichotomy between cheap and costly that becomes the fundamental anthesis of the Christians life. Born in Breslau to a family of professionals, Dietrich Bonhoeffer would begin his theological journey at the age of 13, deciding to choose…
The Study of Liberation Theology in Latin America
The Gospel of liberation, as it can be termed, originated in Latin America during a series of meetings in the 1960’s at the Second Vatican Council that focused on church unity and renewal. It wasn’t until the second Latin American Bishops’ conference held in Medellin, Colombia as a response to poverty and social injustice, that…
A Meditation on Psalm 103
The one hundred and third psalm is a beautiful evangelical hymn that is personal, abounding in steadfast love that gives thanks for God’s compassion and mercy. The deliverance of Israel, coupled with God not dealing with them according to their sin, gives cause for this praise hymn to repeat the magnificent phrase of countless blessing….
Calvin’s Doctrine of Predestination
The French theologian John Calvin is commonly associated with the doctrine of predestination especially in his famous treatise, Institutes of the Christian Religion, though admittingly this was not the centerpiece of his theological framework. According to Calvin, it can be summarized as: “Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He has determined…
Eddie Perez 