Matthew the Evangelist

Unfortunately, most of evangelical churches today lean towards a salvation culture. To have a Gospel culture instead of a salvation culture, the true Gospel must be present. For the Gospel to be present, according to McKnight’s third chapter, the evangelist must understand the story of Jesus within the context of the story of Israel/Bible. Chapter 4 revealed how the Apostle…

There are a significant amount of differences between John’s Gospel and the Synoptics. The Synoptics consist of the Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All three Gospels have a large narrative approach. They include geographical settings, extensive numbers of characters, and a considerable amount of dialogue. They also capture Jesus as teaching generally through parables and short sequences of proclamation. John’s Gospel, however, is much more drawn out and inner-directed. John’s Gospel clarifies…

When it comes to Jesus Christ many Christian thinkers and authors use story, metaphor, or parables to express their Christology. Gregory of Nyssa and Julian of Norwich are two examples. Their writings contain an illustration to illustrate the work of Jesus. For Gregory it is fishing and for Julian it is a story of the Lord and Servant. This essay unpacks these exemplifications thus uncovering the authors’ individual beliefs about the saving action of God for humanity through the work of…

Ephesians; Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians Ephesians is the tenth book of the new testament. It is also the fifth letter Paul wrote to various groups of people. It is an intense, in depth letter about how important the church is for the christian faith. Paul was targeting the Gentiles and Jews to bring their beliefs and differences together. It is highly debated as well if Paul actually wrote this letter or was it an imitator. The importance that Paul chose to write this letter to Ephesus, was…

Donald B. Kraybill’s book “The Upside-Down Kingdom” reveals the kingdom of God that Jesus talks about in first century Palestine. The main point that Kraybill develops in his book is that the kingdom of God that Jesus teaches during His time on earth appears to be upside down in the sense that He focused on winning by serving and triumphed by losing. His principles were seemingly unorthodox as they disregarded the commonality of that time where the wealthy became wealthier and the poor became…

In the last few years, I have been struggling with finding the balance between showing compassion but being truthful about the behaviors that lead people into difficult situations. As a minister and a leader, you confront this on a daily basis. You want to show mercy and compassion because after all, the gospel is all about love! But you also want people to change for the better. And you can’t do better unless someone points out what you are doing wrong that’s causing drama and problems in…

to bridge the transition from Judaism to Christianity. The Parable of the Tenants is a great example of Jesus chastising the Jewish lawgivers and the leadership of the religion. In doing so establishing the 'cornerstone ' of the new church. In Matthew 21, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Tenants while instructing these elders and leaders to listen carefully because he was directing it at them. He tells the story of a landowner that built a phenomenal vineyard with all the necessities to…

or robbery gone wrong, is the central question the people are trying to find out. In the town of Laramie, Matthew Shepard was murdered and now the Tectonic Play theatre are here to see how the town has changed, how the murder is seen through media and how people feel about his murder, even ten years later. Throughout the play a major theme is how the town has grown from the murder of Matthew Sheppard. There are so many different programs, theme nights and even projects done at the university to…

The play The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project describes the situation of twenty-one-year-old Matthew Shepard. Matthew was known to be homosexual and found himself in a life or death situation when he was attacked by Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and passed away after being comatose for five days. The perpetrators were arrested for a number of things including kidnapping and first degree murder.…

In comparison to The Laramie Project, the story of a brutal homophobic murder and the effects of latent homophobic mindsets instilled in the residents of Laramie, “Of Families and Other Magical Objects” re-define the image of masculinity, featuring two gay men taking on the traditional “manly” hero role. The societal norms of masculinity that have been portrayed in media throughout the decades created an ideal image of men; Height, strength, athleticism, and a lack of emotion are some traits…