Derek J. Brown
If you've had much engagement with Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), you've likely been confronted with the Watchtower interpretation of Colossians 1:15: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." The JW translation of the Bible (The New World Translation, NWT) reads the same as any standard English version of Scripture at … Continue reading Jesus Christ, the Firstborn of all Creation
In the last few posts on evangelism, I have considered what evangelism is, what it isn't, and how to get the gospel right. Now it is time to do the difficult yet necessary heart-work of asking why many of us don’t evangelize while also looking to Scripture to find a remedy for these excuses. The … Continue reading Why We Don’t Evangelize
What do Christians mean when we refer to common grace? It's been my observation over the past few years that believers are not well-acquainted with this area of theology. This lack of familiarity is unfortunate because the doctrine of common grace can offer significant insight into our Christian experience if rightly understood and applied. I … Continue reading A Primer on Common Grace
A couple of post a few months ago I defined what evangelism is and what evangelism isn’t. In our definition we noted that our evangelistic efforts must include the evangel—the gospel—or else it isn’t evangelism. We also said that in order to qualify as evangelism, the evangel we share must include specific components. Let’s look … Continue reading Getting the Good News Right
To understand the tax collectors of Jesus’ day and how they were viewed by their fellow Jews, we must first gain some insight into tax system in Israel. At the time of Jesus, Israel was under Roman occupation, and Rome exercised its authority over Israel by placing governors over some of its provinces (e.g., the … Continue reading Jesus, Friend of Sinners
