John Mark Hicks

When the wicked prosper, what do the righteous do? When people oppress the poor and needy to enrich themselves, what does wisdom say to community of God when they gather to praise God? “Depart from evil, trust God, and do good.” The way of the wicked leads to destruction, but the meek shall inherit the […]

“Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”–it was #148 in my hymnbook growing up. I loved singing it because it called even “dragons” to praise the Lord (according to KJV). The hymn is based on Psalm 148. Psalm 148 invites all heaven and earth to praise God from their heights to their depths. Yahweh is praised as creator of […]

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28 The Lord God took the adam and rested […]

When God called Abraham, he promised blessings through which all the nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). Included in those blessings is the land promise (Genesis 12:6-7). The promised land is part of the Abrahamic promise. This land promise is both overplayed as some identify the contemporary state of Israel with this land promise and […]

I have been joyfully engaged with a number of European Christians this week at Gemunden about an hour northwest of Frankfurt.  Beginning with creation, we have talked about the missio Dei as we are created as co-rulers, co-creators and partners with God in the emergence of creation. But we autonomously chose our own agenda and tumbled […]

“The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7-8). “[Yahweh] brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9). When the […]