March 9, 2010
Text: Joshua 5:9-12 [This is part of a small group series for the Woodmont Hills Church in Nashville, TN, which is prepared in conjunction with Dean Barham’s homilies that are based on the Lectionary texts for Lent.] A new generation had emerged during the wilderness trek. Their parents had refused to enter to the promise […]
No Comments » | Biblical Texts, Theology | Tagged: Bible-Joshua, Circumcision, Covenant, Israel, Lent, Passover, Wilderness | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
October 21, 2009
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 […]
14 Comments | Theology | Tagged: Abraham, Bible-Romans, Cosmos, Covenant, Earth, Eschatology, Inheritance, Israel, Jesus, Kingdom, Land, Messiah, Promises | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
October 20, 2009
The most heartfelt and gut-wrenching expression of Paul’s love for his own nation, his own people, for Israel is found in Romans 9:1-5. Israel, though gifted by God with wondrous privileges, had rejected God’s Messiah. Paul was heartbroken as he listed the gifts in an overflow of praise for God’s grace toward Israel. Gift one: […]
2 Comments | Theology | Tagged: Adoption, Assembly, Bible-Romans, Christ, Covenants, Glory, Israel, Land, Law, Messiah, New Heaven and New Earth, Promises, Temple, Torah | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
May 14, 2009
[Note: I am attempting to keep these SBD installments under 2000 words each, but that is–of course–quite inadequate for the topics covered. Consequently, these contributions are more programmatic than they are explanatory or defenses of the positions stated. You may access the whole series at my Serial page.] God elects us in Christ through faith […]
18 Comments | Theology | Tagged: Arminianism, Assurance, Calvinism, Covenant, Election, Faith, Grace, Israel, Predestination, Reformed | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
August 21, 2008
“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 […]
17 Comments | Theology | Tagged: Bible-Genesis, Bible-Jeremiah, Christology, Curse, Earth, Eschatology, Fall, Grace, Israel, Jesus, Land, New Earth, New Heavens | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
July 11, 2008
In the first half of 2004, the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ (Family of God) in Nashville, TN, pursued a congregational-wide study entitled “Women Serving God.” There were some preliminaries in the Fall of 2003, but the main focus was the Spring of 2004. This involved many different venues–sermons, Bible classes (Sunday and Wednesday), small groups, […]
10 Comments | Hermeneutics, Theology | Tagged: Assembly, Bible-1 Corinthians, Bible-1 Timothy, Bible-Galatians, Bible-Genesis, Bible-Romans, Christology, Chuch Polity, Church, Complementarian, Creation, Ecclesiology, Egalitarian, Fall, Gender, Hermeneutics, Israel, Jesus, Ministry of Jesus, Women | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
June 16, 2008
With this post, I will lay down my keyboard for a few weeks on this topic as I leave Friday or Saturday for a week vacation without electronics. But I will continue this series again upon my return. I envision six or seven more articles on “theological hermeneutics” and then a new series on “applied” theological […]
9 Comments | Hermeneutics, Theology | Tagged: Assembly, Christ, Christology, Creation, Divine Presence, Eschatology, God, Hermeneutics, Holy Spirit, Incarnation, Israel, Narrative, Narrative Theology, Presence, Providence, Redemptive-History, Sanctuary, Temple, Theology, Worship | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks
June 15, 2008
Imbibing the theodrama by reading Scripture is critical to the development of our theological sensitivities. One of the more important dimensions of this maturing understanding of the theodrama is the concept of redemptive-historical movement within the drama itself. The theodrama is progressive; it is telos-oriented or goal-oriented. Watching the movement of the drama toward the […]
21 Comments | Hermeneutics, Theology | Tagged: Bible, Christ, Christocentric, Christology, Glory, Hermeneutics, Interpretation, Israel, Metanarrative, Narrative, Narrative Theology, Presence, Redemptive-History, Scripture, Temple, Theocentric, Theodrama | Permalink
Posted by John Mark Hicks