For those familiar with the Gospels, you know that Jesus' dominant message was proclaiming the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15).  For those familiar with the Apostle Paul, you know that his message "of first importance" was preaching the gospel - that Christ came in accordance with the Scriptures, died for our sins, and was raised to new life on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

Too often, these dominant messages have been considered in isolation from each other or pitted against one another.  Thankfully, we now have another resource that helpfully brings these two themes together and - in so doing - enriches our understanding of both.

A couple of days ago, I preached on 1 Kings 18:20-39 - the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.  (If you want to listen to or watch the message, click here and find the sermon from July 27, 2014 titled "Stuck in Neutral.")  The "big idea" was that God has no equals.  This passage very vividly demonstrates the unmatched greatness of Yawheh, and I developed this big idea with the following two points:

1. Nothing compares to God. But that doesn't mean nothing competes with God.
2. A big view of God leads to bold obedience for God.

The thing is, I stopped at verse 39 - with the people falling on their knees, confessing that Yahweh is God (and, therefore, Baal is not).  

But that's not the end of the story.  In the very next verse (1 Kings 18:40), we read the following: "Then Elijah commanded them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal.  Don't let anyone get away!'  They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there."

This, then, leads to the very understandable question (that I've gotten from a few honest inquirers since Sunday): What's up with 1 Kings 18:40?

Here's a sampling of some of the things I've been reading and reviewing this week.  The hope is that these bite-sized sections of books, articles, blog posts, etc will stand on their own and be beneficial in-and-of-themselves.  But I also hope that some of you will like these excerpts enough that they pull you into the larger work from which they've been taken.

Let's start sampling: 

Here's a sampling of some of the things I've been reading and reviewing this week.  The hope is that these bite-sized sections of books, articles, blog posts, etc will stand on their own and be beneficial in-and-of-themselves.  But I also hope that some of you will like these excerpts enough that they pull you into the larger work from which they've been taken.

Let's start sampling: 

Hang with me for a minute or two as I introduce you to a really important word that gets me super excited...even though the word is pretty old, kinda cumbersome, and often neglected.

The word?  Catechesis (pronounced “kat ə 'kēsis”).  

Still hangin' with me?  Good.

When I use the word "catechesis" with most people, I've come to expect one of two common reactions.  For some, their defenses go up - they (wrongly) assume this word applies only to some denomination or branch of Christianity they don't adhere to - even if they may not understand what the word really means.  For others, when they hear the word "catechesis" their mind disengages.  After all, catechesis is a church-ey, unfamiliar, four syllable word.  Since they don't have a framework for understanding the term, their mind jumps to something else.

But what if catechesis is worthwhile for anybody following - or considering following - Jesus Christ?  I believe it can be.  In this post I'll try to get us on the same page with how to think about catechesis, and in a few days I'll get more specific with some of the benefits catechesis offers.