1 Corinthians – Kingdom Harbor

The Company of the Summoned

January 31, 2024

In this week’s lectionary text, 1 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul emphasizes his holy obligation and divine calling to proclaim the gospel, representing a countercultural surrender to a higher purpose. I share some of my own experience and challenges of my call to full-time ministry, and conclude by highlighting the current crisis of clergy burnout and offering a call to love and support those who have surrendered their life to full time Christian service. … More The Company of the Summoned

32 Put Downs in 10 Minutes

January 29, 2024

“Isaak, grab a notepad and pen, and go watch Trump’s victory speech. Tally up how many mean things he says about someone else.” Isaak loves counting, and he’s very sensitive to bullying, so he relished the assignment. He caught only the last 10 minutes of the speech, but the photo here shows the result. … More 32 Put Downs in 10 Minutes

All Puffed Up with No Place to Go

January 26, 2024

This week’s lectionary features a verse I memorized in Greek in college. Paul warns of the danger of knowledge leading to arrogance and division, urging the coupling of knowledge with love. What does it profit a man to gain worlds of knowledge, if he ends up an insufferable jerk? … More All Puffed Up with No Place to Go

The End is Nigh (Sort Of)

January 18, 2024

Paul’s strange and even disturbing instructions to believers in Corinth beg explanation. For Paul, every molecule in the universe had been shifted by the Christ Event, and the imminent return of Jesus placed a question mark next to all ordinary things of life. Pastor Paul’s words likely jolted his first hearers awake and raised many questions–questions we do well to ponder again today. … More The End is Nigh (Sort Of)

It’s Time to Grow Up

June 7, 2020

It’s time for the Body of Christ to grow up. Like a refrigerated teething ring given to an infant cutting her teeth, I have offered Paul’s ‘Body Metaphor’ for the church to chew on as we seek to become One Unified Body of Many Ethnic Parts. … More It’s Time to Grow Up

Seek the Greater Gift of Racial Sensibility

June 6, 2020

The “Love Poem” in 1 Corinthians 13 is often pulled out of context and read at weddings. When applied to racial division and ethnic differences in the local church, its doubly explosive! … More Seek the Greater Gift of Racial Sensibility

Giving Greater Honor to Minorities

June 5, 2020

This is the task of the church today: for Christians of all ethnic and racial backgrounds to receive those of different backgrounds as a gift to broaden our perspective and deepen our love as we learn to not only understand each other’s experiences, but enter into each other’s pain and, God willing, to learn how to suffer in solidarity with them. … More Giving Greater Honor to Minorities

An Intoxicatingly Beautiful Unity-in-Diversity

June 4, 2020

Paul emphasizes our mutual interdependence in the Body which, when applied to race/ethnicity, offers some of the following revolutionary and far-reaching principles for racial healing and cooperation in the church. … More An Intoxicatingly Beautiful Unity-in-Diversity

One Body, Many Ethnic Parts

June 3, 2020

Let us revisit Paul’s ‘One Body, Many Parts’ metaphor and draw out key insights for more nurturing more harmonious multiethnic relations. … More One Body, Many Ethnic Parts

Beyond the Melting Pot

June 2, 2020

In the age of Trump, Christian leaders and committed followers of Jesus know deep in their bones that a kind of “melting” needs to take place if the message and mission of the gospel is to bear fresh fruit in a culture where so much is rotten. … More Beyond the Melting Pot

One Body, Many Ethnic Parts

October 26, 2019

Anyone interested in a sample of my academic work, here’s a full essay on race and ethnicity in the ancient world and today. (I shared a few sections a few weeks back.) Dr. Dennis Edwards said of it, “This is great, dare I say prophetic!” Unfortunately, the formatting and footnotes did not transfer to the … More One Body, Many Ethnic Parts

CrossRoad 3: The Foolishness of the Cross

March 8, 2019

When the last shovel of dirt is tossed onto my grave and the benediction has been read, I want people to walk to their cars and drive back to the church for cold sandwiches thinking, “He took Jesus at his words, did his best to pursue His Kingdom and live by cross-wisdom — leaving the … More CrossRoad 3: The Foolishness of the Cross

Your One True Love

February 14, 2019

Repost from 2018. Happy Valentine’s Day! While many will rely on Hallmark’s card writers to find the perfect words to say “I love you” today, some Christians might reach back to the famous “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13 read at many weddings. Yet, the man who wrote these words would probably find it quite … More Your One True Love

Gospeling in Corinth 4: God-Taught

September 26, 2016

“God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. . . . The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re … More Gospeling in Corinth 4: God-Taught

Gospeling in Corinth 3: God-Empowered

September 24, 2016

1-2You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified. 3-5I was unsure of … More Gospeling in Corinth 3: God-Empowered

Gospeling in Corinth 2: God-Chosen

September 22, 2016

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose … More Gospeling in Corinth 2: God-Chosen

Gospeling in Corinth 1: God-Logic

September 20, 2016

I’m reposting a short series of reflections on Paul’s ministry in the pagan metropolis of Corinth and how he went about proclaiming the gospel and making disciples in a very unbelieving culture. The apostle Paul writes (using The Message paraphrase): “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent … More Gospeling in Corinth 1: God-Logic