About This Work
The original name I had picked out for this blog was At the Feet of the Master. I thought it was a great name which reflected the desire for all of us to sit at the feet of Christ and learn from His teachings in Scripture. But I soon realized it wouldn't be received that way, and would sound like I was bragging about my theological skills.
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I fully recognize that I'm not the Master. Let's just get that out there from the very beginning.
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No, you haven't stumbled upon the foundation of a new cult in my name (sorry).
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Equipping the Saints is a chance to study Scripture together and to wrestle with God's words to a people in desperate need of a transformative message from the biblical witness. The goal is fairly simple: to ponder the deeper things of God. But that, needless to say, takes a lot of work.
I'm not the one who does the equipping; that's a clear work of the Holy Spirit. Through our study of Scripture, we have the beautiful gift of being able to sit at His feet and to learn those deeper things of God. We engage with the mind of Christ and we allow Him to transform our hearts to greater conformity to His own image.
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You'll find my approach to biblical study is inspired by several different sources. It's important that I call out two particular scholars whose work has proven deeply influential to me, as their approaches will undoubtedly show up all throughout the work I place on here. First, I am deeply indebted to the work of Dr. Michael Heiser and his insistence that "if it's weird, it's important" in Scripture. Dr. Heiser's encouragement to dig deeper into the Bible and to not be afraid of the weird stuff will undoubtedly have a major influence on the material you find here. I encourage you to check out his Naked Bible Podcast or to look up his lectures on YouTube, and check out his books Reversing Hermon and The Unseen Realm.
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You'll also see that my own theology has been impacted by the work of Dr. Michael Gorman, whose Cruciformity series challenged and deepened my understanding of Pauline theology and the person and work of Christ. We are called to something even greater than we ever realized, and God is transforming each and every one of us to be more like His Son. We'll explore a lot of what that means together as we talk about the oft-neglected topic of theosis in these pages. Again, if the content you find herein intrigues you, take the time to check out Cruciformity, Inhabiting the Cruciform God, and Becoming the Gospel. Those three works will radically transform your theology.
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My approach has also been heavily influenced by the scholars under whom I studied at Asbury Theological Seminary. You will find herein an approach which, I believe, combines reverence for Scripture with sound scholarship and the application of logic. For those curious about education and training (as I would be if I stumbled upon some random blog), I received an M.Div. from Asbury in 2017 (Biblical Studies emphasis) and a D.Min. from the same institution in 2022 (Preaching & Leadership emphasis), and am currently working toward a Ph.D. in Theological Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's my passion to help others grow deeper in their relationship with Christ, and it's my prayer that you encounter Him in our time together.
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Whether you're stopping by for a brief read or you're following along with every step of the journey, please take some time to sit at the feet of Christ today and allow Him to equip you for the work to which you've been called.
"Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening."