John Mark Hicks

In January, 2021, Bammel Road Church of Christ in Houston, TX, asked me to share my understanding of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 with them. This is the ZOOM video for January 31, 2021. This presentation suggests that Paul is addressing a confused situation in Ephesus where some deceived women were influencing the whole church, and consequently […]

I was invited to visit the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas, but due to COVID I could not. I was diagnosed the day I was supposed to get on the plane to fly to Dallas. Consequently, I addressed the church through Zoom on the topic while experiencing some of the effects of […]

Though almost universally called “letters” to the seven churches of Asia, this is rather insufficient to capture the urgency and message of these words from the risen and enthroned Messiah. The salutation of the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:4-8) bears all the earmarks of a letter, but the subsequent visionary markers (“in the Spirit”) remind us that […]

Towards the end of 1909 David Lipscomb fell seriously ill and was unable to write for the Gospel Advocate. When he returned to writing in 1910 he had much to say as he approached his 80th year of life. What is Most Important To Him.  In the first issue of 1910, Lipscomb summarized his primary interest […]

In my next post I will turn my attention to “privilege,” but in this one I dig deeper into the argument for silence. The Tennessee Tradition regarded public silence as godly submission on the part of faithful women. Given the Tennessee understanding that women were inferior to men in terms of leadership capacity and excluded from […]

Over the next week I will be separated from technology–cell phones, television, computers–for a renewal retreat where I will specifically journey through my past wounds to seek deeper healing.  Consequently, I will not–of course–be available to respond to any comments and no further posts will appear for the week. I wanted to let you know […]

What image does “doctrine” evoke in your mind? Answers would probably range from meaningless discussions of unfruitful minutia of rationalistic projections by ivory-tower theologians to exciting visions of polemical engagements over distinctive points of doctrine. Both of these exercises could be called “doctrinal,” but both leave a bad taste in the mouth of contemporary Christians […]