“What in the world is this Christianity thing?”

A phrase like this would not have been unusual among Romans in the first couple of centuries. In the eyes of the average citizen, Christians were an odd bunch. And what made them odd was not just what they believed. It was how (and who) they worshiped.

To be sure, worship was a big deal in the ancient world. The ancient Greco-Roman culture was very religious. Even more to the point, they were publicly religious. Worship rituals and activities were visible for all to see.

And it was precisely here that this “Christianity thing” was found to be strange and unusual. Indeed, Christian worship seemed to hack off just about everybody.

Here’s why:

There is a (seemingly) never-ending debate amongst theologians and pastors about the proper form of government for the church. And one of the fundamental flash points in this debate is the practice of the early church.

Throughout the letters of the New Testament, the people of God are called lots of things. Conspicuously absent from this list is the term “sinners.”

We are saved not by what we have done, but by what Christ has done. But what does God think of our good works after we are saved? Here is where, unfortunately, Christians often receive mixed messages.

Early Christians drew a sharp line between their worship of Jesus and all the other pagan gods of the Greco-Roman world. Jesus was not simply a new addition to a pantheon of gods they already believed in, but was considered to be the only God rightly deserving of worship.

Over the years, I have learned to ask students a key question that can reveal a lot about how they are developing as a preacher. “What did you leave out?”

As I think about my son’s future, and even about life in the modern day, I have to ask the simple question: What effect does “social media” technology have on the way we view church? What effect does it have on the way we conceive of life in the body of Christ?

When this verse hits, you can almost hear the gavel fall with a loud boom. But thankfully, Paul doesn’t end his letter there. Instead, he says the two most amazing words in the whole Bible.

Psalm 119 tells us the 5 main ways that EVERY believer should be interacting with Scripture. How are you doing?

Some claim Genesis 1 presents humans as the last created, and Genesis 2 presents them as the first created, even before plants and animals. But is that really what the text says?

One of the most common objections made to the absolute claims of Christianity is that Christians are arrogant. Christians are arrogant to claim that they are right; arrogant to claim others are wrong; arrogant to claim that truth can be known.

When is the last time you heard a sermon that suggested that a motive for our obedience should be the rewards we receive in heaven? I imagine for most of us it has been a long time, maybe even never.

I have been teaching a weekly Bible study on the book of Romans to women in the Charlotte community. For the last several months, we have been plodding our way through the first three chapters as Paul has laid out his case that all mankind—Jew and Gentile—are sinful and rightly under the judgment of God. Paul finishes this section of his letter with this monumental statement: “For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom 3:20).

You can almost hear the gavel fall with a boom.

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The story of the New Testament canon is a fascinating one, with many twists and turns. There are books that were accepted very quickly, almost from the start (e.g., the four gospels), and there are other books that struggled to find a home (e.g., 2 Peter).

And then there is the book of Revelation.

Few today would contest the claim that the book of Revelation stands as one of the most controversial, complicated, and esoteric books in the New Testament canon. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that its reception by the early church was equally complicated and controversial.

But, the story of the book of Revelation is not what one might expect. Other debated books tended to have a lukewarm reception at the earliest stages, only to gain more and more acceptance over time. Revelation, on the other hand, had nearly the opposite experience; it had a very early and positive reception in many parts of the church, only to run into serious challenges at a later point.

Lately, I have been doing a good bit of research on Revelation’s canonical history in preparation for writing an academic piece on the subject.

Here are a few highlights about Revelation’s journey:

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