Tag Archives: Kingdom of God

Waiting and the Shape of the Kingdom of God

Posted on November 19, 2020 by Mark Love

The gospel texts for the last two Sundays have been parables from Matthew that have to do with waiting. The first is the parable of the ten virgins who are waiting with their lamps for the arrival of the bridegroom. … Continue reading →

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The Faithfulness of Risk Taking: Competency Six

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Mark Love

I have two initial diagnostics I use when gauging a congregation’s capacity to innovate missionally. First, is their trust in the system. Second, is their tolerance for risk. These two things, of course, are often linked, though you can have … Continue reading →

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Living in a bigger story than justification by faith: how hospitality and witness go together

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Mark Love

So, one of the points I’ve tried to make in this series is that if you think the driving question of Scripture is, “how can an individuals be forgiven for their sins?”, then relationships with individuals tend to be instrumentalized. … Continue reading →

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Living in a story bigger than justification by faith: theological worlds

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Mark Love

My friend and former student, Wayne Beason, asked a good question in response to the last blog post. I made the observation that if you proclaim the Kingdom of God’s nearness prior to eating and healing, you have nothing, other … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian practice, hermeneutics, missional leadership, missional theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Living in a story bigger than justification by faith: hospitality and witness

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Mark Love

In my last few posts, I’ve talked about the possible differences it might make to shift away from seeing justification by faith as the center of the Paul’s understanding of the gospel (ala N.T. Wright and many others). Similarly, in … Continue reading →

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Living in a bigger story than justification by faith: it doesn’t matter if you didn’t like the songs

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Mark Love

Last blog, I pursued the question of one of my students. If N.T. Wright is correct that justification by faith is not the heart of Paul’s gospel, what does that look like in church life. I began my response by … Continue reading →

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Jesus’ baptism and ours: the Jordan River runs through Romans

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Mark Love

Before my baptism, I memorized Romans 6:1-14. A seminal text for sure. “What shall we say then, shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? By no means! … Do you not know that all of us who were … Continue reading →

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Jesus’ Baptism and Ours: I should be baptized by you

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Mark Love

In both Matthew and Luke, John the Baptist protests Jesus’ request to be baptized. “I need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me?” We understand John’s reluctance. Jesus seems to us an unlikely candidate for a … Continue reading →

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Jesus’ baptism and ours: the importance of asking the right question

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Mark Love

In my last post, I suggested that Jesus’ baptism is a model for our own. We are baptized for the same reasons he was. This is not an obvious statement for most of us, since we think baptism is primarily … Continue reading →

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The Baptism of Jesus and Ours

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Mark Love

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one, but in the days of my youth it was not uncommon to see behind the pulpit a baptistry with a painted scene of the Jordan River. I had no need of such a … Continue reading →

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