John Mark Hicks

Zechariah sees a rider on a “red” (more like reddish-brown) horse among myrtle trees in a “glen.” Behind this rider is an indefinite number of horses with a range of colors which reflect the variety of horses within the Persian Empire. Scouting is the only function given these horses (and their unidentified riders)—they “patrol the […]

Samuel Parker Pitmann (1876-1965), a graduate who joined the faculty of the Nashville Bible School (now Lipscomb University) in 1897, enjoyed a unique position to assess the values and interests of its founding fathers. He called James A. Harding his “father in the gospel” who taught him “the true philosophy of life” based on Matthew […]

Part I moves us from the prophetic anticipation of the coming kingdom through the appearance of the Christ child to a conclusion in the ministry of Jesus.  At the heart of this movement is a missional vision–God comes to give rest to the nations. Handel weaves together texts from Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Luke and […]

That was no place for a child. In the darkest days of Jerusalem’s despair, God told Jeremiah to neither marry nor have children (Jeremiah 16:2). That world—the world of Jerusalem’s destruction—is no place for children. All that would await them was pain, horror, gloom, dislocation, and destruction. Even now it may sometimes seem that the […]

My dear friend, as well as colleague, Lee C. Camp has recently released a new book entitled:  Who Is My Enemy? Questions American Christians Must Face About Islam–and Themselves. Lee is Professor of Theology and Ethics at Lipscomb University in Nashville (TN) where I also teach.   Lee uses a line from a prayer of St. […]

“Got him!” The headlines fill our papers, newsrooms and social media. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9-11 is dead. What should I do? Dance? Party? Shout “U-S-A” over and over? What should I feel? Pride? Joy? Satisfaction? Patriotic? Gratitude? I have mixed feelings. “Justice has been done,” says our President. Maybe so. One function […]

Yesterday my Bible class at Woodmont Hills encountered the prophet Habakkuk’s condemnation of imperialism in chapter 2:6-20. In the wake of the United States’ entrance into another war (making it three current ones), I was struck with how relevant the prophet is. [My handouts for this class on Habakkuk are available here.] The section is headed […]

The Apocalypse’s second vision (Revelation 4-16) has a well-defined literary structure. The structure shapes the plot and progression of the drama’s movement.  Below is a way of picturing this structural development: The Heavenly Throne Room: The Sealed Scroll is Seized (4-5) The Seven Seals are Opened (6:1-8:1) The Seven Trumpets Herald the Opening of the Scroll (8:1-11:19) […]

Kingdom Come: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James A. Harding is the title of a new release by Leafwood Press, a division of ACU Press. It is due out in May 2006. Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks are the authors. “Many assume that Churches of Christ views 1930-1960 were those of […]

The Zwingli Statue in Zurich