Blog Posts

Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

What Does It Mean That Jesus Was Rich?

To grasp the Son’s sacrifice in taking on human nature, we must deeply consider what it means for Him to be the Son of God. Paul helps us understand this in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “Though He was rich, He became poor…”

When we hear "rich," we typically think of money. But God is spirit, and as the Creator, He already possesses all things. So, what does it mean for God to be rich?

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

How was Jesus rich?

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul motivates us to give sacrificially by pointing to who Jesus is and what He has done for us: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

Though He was rich…

There is no greater privilege than thinking deeply about Jesus. When it comes to what we choose to focus our minds on, we want to be a little like the apostle Paul. “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul is explaining why he preached the way he did…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

Tertullian: Against Praxeas

Tertullian may or may not have been a lawyer. He certainly was good at arguing. God used that ability to help the church more clearly articulate the doctrine of the Trinity. Starting with the word Trinity. People may have used the word before he did. But it wasn’t because they found the specific term in the Bible. What they did find was the concept. They sometimes struggled to explain it however…

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Parenting Joshua Mack Parenting Joshua Mack

Helping Our Children Learn Contentment

What do you want for your children? Why do you want it?

We are being told a lot things we should want for our children. We should want them to have a good education. We should want them to get a good job. We should want them to make a good income...

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Parenting Joshua Mack Parenting Joshua Mack

Helping Your Children Learn to Listen: A Guide for Parents

One step to being a good parent is knowing what you're doing. It’s hard to do anything well if you have no idea what it is that you are supposed to do. When we talk about being a father or mother we're talking about more than just having babies, we're talking about parenting those babies. What does a parent do…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

God speaks through what He has spoken

When we think about someone speaking to us, we normally think of them standing in front of us, opening their mouths and saying words. Obviously that’s not what is happening with us and God when we are having devotions. But before we minimize what actually is happening, we should step back and think. Because, we all know there are different ways we receive communication from others....

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

A Wordy Relationship

If I sit down and talk with you about enjoying your relationship with God I am going to talk with you about reading the Bible. Sometimes when I say things like that, people push back. “You are telling me that a big part of how I am supposed to interact with God is through reading a bunch of words?…

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Parenting Joshua Mack Parenting Joshua Mack

Do you know who your children are?

It’s hard to be a good parent if you don’t understand children. You need to be able to answer the question “what” if you are going to be to answer the question “how.” You know the Bible verses on parenting, but do you know kids? Before we think about what we are going to do with our children we need to make sure we know…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

The Always Good God

How can you be sure that God’s looking out for your good? After telling us that every good gift comes from God, James gives believers one proof of God’s goodness in James 1:18. He writes, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

Awesome God

God is frightening. There are many things about God that are frightening. He has unstoppable power. If He wants, He can save someone or destroy someone in a moment. He is absolutely holy. There is no one in the universe who hates evil more than He does. His justice is absolute…

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Theology Joshua Mack Theology Joshua Mack

God’s Word, God’s Power

If you are going to be spiritual, you are going to need to do a lot of reading and listening to words. For many people honestly, that doesn’t sound very exciting. Perhaps one reason for that is because we tend underestimate the power of words…

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Apologetics Apologetics

Absolute Nonsense

I sometimes just can't imagine it. I think I know the danger of false teaching here in Africa and I think I can see how far some of these false teachers have strayed from Scripture, but I am still sometimes surprised by the absolutely crazy…

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