Category Archives: Wide Angle

Wide Angle: Turning over a New Leaf or Turning into a New Person?

Posted on January 6, 2022 by salooper57

ied on a cross, was raised on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will return one day. Those are facts, and without them faith in Jesus is illusory. They form the foundation of the faith. But—and this is crucial—they are not the entire building. Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: The Kingdom Comes

Posted on January 4, 2022 by salooper57

When we read the Gospels, it is helpful to remember that Israel was an occupied country. Its terror alert was always at red, and that the occupation forces and their collaborators in the government were constantly on the lookout for … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: The Kingdom Arrives

Posted on December 31, 2021 by salooper57

In first-century Israel, there was no king – at least, no king descended from David. But people were looking for such a king to come. Apocalyptic books like the ones I mentioned in the last post had stirred people up … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: Politics and Religion in the First Century

Posted on December 28, 2021 by salooper57

Imagine yourself in a discussion about politics.  Your party is not in power; its representatives are in the minority.  But they are a loud minority.  They are forever criticizing the other party and its leaders and, though you are not … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: Christmas, in God’s Time, in God’s Way

Posted on December 24, 2021 by salooper57

It’s time to zoom out and consider the Christmas story from a wide-angle viewpoint. After four hundred years of radio silence, heaven re-established contact and sent messengers (that is the meaning of the Greek word we translate as “angel”) to … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: Operation Bethlehem

Posted on December 23, 2021 by salooper57

If you remove the Christmas story from the larger narrative that surrounds it, from the promises of God to rescue and renew his people, you still have a nice story but you may just miss the point. This little child … Continue reading →

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Christmas Through the Wide Angle: The Line Becomes the Point of it All

Posted on December 22, 2021 by salooper57

If you remove the Christmas story from this larger narrative, from the promises of God to rescue and renew his people, you still have a nice story, but you may just miss the point. This little child is the fulfillment of the great promises. He is the king. Bethlehem is not just an inhospitable town; it is an invasion site. Bethlehem ought to be listed with Thermopylae, Troy, Normandy, and Omaha Beach. With the coming of this child the forces of the eternal kingdom have arrived, and the deciding campaign of the Long War has begun. Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: Christmas Broke the Silence

Posted on December 20, 2021 by salooper57

I was flying from Dakar, Senegal, West Africa to Paris. I left Dakar about 11:00 at night, and within minutes the ground below us grew very dark.  We were flying over Mauritania, Western Sahara, and Morocco, where towns and villages … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: We Stopped Trusting Too Soon

Posted on December 17, 2021 by salooper57

hrone of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” Remember that he was born in, of all places, Bethlehem, the town of David.  The prophet had hundreds of years earlier said, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: When the Line Vanished

Posted on December 15, 2021 by salooper57

That promise was recorded and published, and it left an indelible impression on the minds of the house of Israel. And I say “the house of Israel” again because it was only a few hundred years after David that the “kingdom of Israel” was a kingdom no more. The kingdom was shattered from within, and then crushed from without. David’s descendants were sent into exile. The royal line vanished in a faraway land.

wind. They had lost the promised land and the promised king in one blow. And where was God while all this was happening? That’s what the psalmist wanted to know. Continue reading →

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