I have a friend who is like John the Baptist. He is a pilot in the US Air Force. In addition to his primary duty flying planes, my friend has served on the Air Force’s advance team for Air Force One, the specially-fitted jumbo jet that the US President uses to fly all over theContinue reading “Air Force 1 and repentance – Advent 2022, Week 2, Part 1”
Tag Archives: john the baptist
The important difference between Tom Brady and John the Baptist – John 3:22-36, Part 3
At 45 years old, it is astounding that NFL superstar and living legend, Tom Brady is still playing professional football at the highest level. Just last year (2021), also in his 40s, he was a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the 7th time. As I write this in fall of 2022, though, Brady seems to beContinue reading “The important difference between Tom Brady and John the Baptist – John 3:22-36, Part 3”
When Jesus and John the Baptist had competing ministries – John 3:22-36, Part 2
As Jesus’ ministry was getting underway, we learn in John 3:23 that John the Baptist’s ministry was still going strong too. John hadn’t stopped his ministry just because Jesus was now on the scene. How much time had passed since John baptized Jesus in John 1? If you scan through the days mentioned in JohnContinue reading “When Jesus and John the Baptist had competing ministries – John 3:22-36, Part 2”
Why Jesus didn’t baptize – John 3:22-36, Part 1
If you walk around many institutions of higher learning or hospitals, you’ll see all sorts of plaques on walls noting who gave money to help build a building. Sometimes the names are in the titles of the building. Sometimes there are brick walkways, where each brick has names engraved, names of people who gave money. Continue reading “Why Jesus didn’t baptize – John 3:22-36, Part 1”
What is discipleship? – John 1:35-42, Part 1
Discipleship. What is it, really? Over the years we’ve talked a lot about discipleship, and there has been some confusion. Some have equated evangelism with discipleship. Evangelism is when we proclaim the story of Jesus in both word and deed. Though related, discipleship is different. When we are attempting to define discipleship, we are attemptingContinue reading “What is discipleship? – John 1:35-42, Part 1”
John the Baptist’s mystery friend, and why we need prophets in our lives – John 1:19-34, Part 5
In John 1:19-34, John the Baptist makes a surprising statement that there was someone alive right there, nearby, perhaps even in the crowd that day as John was baptizing people by the Jordan River, someone of whom John is not worthy even to untie his sandals. Untie sandals…what’s that matter? In John’s culture, that wasContinue reading “John the Baptist’s mystery friend, and why we need prophets in our lives – John 1:19-34, Part 5”
John the Baptist’s testy interaction with the religious establishment – John 1:19-34, Part 4
Because John the Baptist said the darndest things, you can imagine it did not sit well with the religious leaders, especially when he called them snakes. And that brings us back to the passage we are studying this week: John 1:19-34. We learn in John 1:19 that the religious elite back at their HQ inContinue reading “John the Baptist’s testy interaction with the religious establishment – John 1:19-34, Part 4”
Was John the Baptist a wild man? – John 1:19-34, Part 3
Did John really go wild? In the previous post, I mentioned that much artwork depicting John the Baptist has him looking like a caveman. Why? Because in Matthew 3:4 we read this about John, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts andContinue reading “Was John the Baptist a wild man? – John 1:19-34, Part 3”
The backstory of John the Baptist – John 1:19-34, Part 2
Who was John the Baptist? In this post we begin to learn the backstory of John the Baptist. While our current blog series is studying the Gospel of John, and while this week we are learning about John 1:19-34, to get the backstory of John the Baptist, we need to turn elsewhere. The full accountContinue reading “The backstory of John the Baptist – John 1:19-34, Part 2”
Prophets who don’t know how to be prophets – John 1:19-34, Preview
Are there still prophets in the world today? No doubt there are people who claim to be prophets. Do you remember Harold Camping of the Family Radio Network? He predicted Jesus was returning in 1994. When Jesus did not return that year, Camping went on to predict Jesus would return in May 2011. In fact,Continue reading “Prophets who don’t know how to be prophets – John 1:19-34, Preview”
Engaging Scripture 