A feather in your theological cap.
The personal blog of pastor, grammarian, and runner Brent Niedergall
Greedy? Or Just Needy?
Remember that parable Jesus gave about the rich man who had some good, really productive, land? So then he makes plans to knock over his barns and build bigger ones to store all his gains so he can enjoy the good life? But what the man doesn't know is that he's going...
The Cost of Covetousness
GameStop and Reddit captured recently captured our attention with some craziness involving the stock market. At the beginning of this year—back in January—GameStop stock was selling for under 20 bucks a share. But then it started climbing. There was this whole dynamic...
300SOT#3: What Is Scripture?
"The B-I-B-L-E, Yes that’s the book for me." What about you? https://youtu.be/ECsivCZvSnc The Bible is the Word of God. Jesus is called the “Word of God” and “the Word” (Rev. 19:13; John 1:1). The “Word of God” also includes those words God has audibly spoken such as...
Book Review: 2 Maccabees 1–7: A Handbook on the Greek Text
2 Maccabees 1–7: A Handbook on the Greek Text by Seth M. Ehorn is the first volume in the “Baylor Handbook on the Septuagint Series” (BHLXX). This might seem like a curious first choice out of all the possibilities in the Septuagint, but Ehorn, who is series co-editor...
Valentine’s Edition: Dating Your Spouse
I originally posted this on Jan. 28, 2021, as "A Theology of Dating Your Spouse." Back in 2012 on a small Army base in eastern Afghanistan, I read a book with an eye-catching cover by Justin Buzzard titled Date Your Wife. If memory serves me right, it was a good...
300SOT#2: What Is Revelation?
What if God never made Himself known? https://youtu.be/L0oXlxpZ7T0 What is revelation? As Bernard Ramm put it: "In its broadest sense “revelation is the sum total of the ways in which God makes himself known” (17). We could never know God—we could never...
What Should I Read on the Septuagint?
Happy International Septuagint Day! And there's no better way to celebrate than to immerse yourself in the exciting world of the Septuagint—a rich land of excitement, adventure, and reward. If you're new to the game or thinking about getting started, where should you...
Bavinck: Religion and Relationship
What do people mean when they say the Christian religion is a relationship? Some of the simplest and most profound words I’ve read so far in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics are these: To be unknown is to be unloved (1:268). In reference to God, not only is this...
When Will Things Get Better?
Life is full of expectation and waiting. We’re always waiting for something! The weekend Seeing friends and family The release of a book or a movie or a video game The next season of The Mandalorian The end of COVID. We’re always waiting for something to come. We...
300SOT #1: What Is Theology?
https://youtu.be/Pws3-f1lhC8 What is theology? Theology is the study of God. It’s setting forth the thoughts of God. It’s what A.H. Strong called “The science of God and of the relations between God and universe” (1). It’s actually even more than that, but I’ll come...