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The strategy of God
Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 1): Why we don’t
The broken marriage of preaching and pastoring
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Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Ian Carmichael on Sola Gratia - Tahlia's story (20/08/2008).
Cathy McKay on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Gordon Cheng on An interview with Mark Thompson (20/08/2008).
Martin Kemp on The indivisibility of truth (20/08/2008).
Andrew Barry on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (20/08/2008).
Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Scott Tubman on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Alex Phillips on A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV (19/08/2008).
Nicole Starling on "We are poorly dressed" - Part 2 (19/08/2008).
Recent posts
An interview with Mark Thompson by Sandy Grant (1 comment). Today we interview Mark Thompson... Mark, how did you come to Christ? I first heard the gospel … more
Sola Gratia - Tahlia’s story by Lionel Windsor (4 comments). Tahlia was born addicted to heroin, thanks to her mum Shae’s addiction. Tahlia (not her real name) lives with … more
“We are poorly dressed” - Part 2 by Nicole Starling (9 comments). Thanks to everyone who contributed comments in answer to the question that I raised in my previous … more
The indivisibility of truth by Tony Payne (4 comments). This Saturday’s classic Briefing extract is about the indivisibility of truth. It’s from Briefing #8, August 1, 1988: If … more
Dread, joy and Morning Prayer by Tony Payne (5 comments). Standing on the 5th tee at St Michael’s, in Sydney’s East, the golfer experiences a mixture of nervousness and dread. Here … more
A freebie for you: Jonah in the ESV by Gordon Cheng (10 comments). Here at Matthias Media, we read and recommend the English Standard Version Bible, the ESV, as a superior … more
‘We are poorly dressed…’ - Part 1 by Nicole Starling (15 comments). “We are poorly dressed… Be imitators of me.” (1 Cor 4:11, 16) “All her household are clothed in … more
Where’s your ministry ‘AT’? by Ben Pfahlert (11 comments). Christians and soldiers have a lot in common, or at least they should (2 Tim 2:3-4). Firstly they both know that … more
Countering Nowism by Lionel Windsor (2 comments). It’s been interesting to follow the comments on Tony’s post about the … more
The evangelical inferiority complex by Tony Payne (3 comments). It’s Saturday. Must be time for another classic snippet from the early days of The Briefing, this time about evangelicalism’s … more
Tony Payne
Tony is the Publishing Director at Matthias Media; editor of The Briefing; author of Islam in our Backyard, Fatherhood and numerous other Matthias Media resources; husband to Ali; father of five teenagers; and an avid consumer of books and almost any televised sport.
Sola Panellists
- Tony Payne (convenor)
- Peter Bolt
- Gordon Cheng
- Sandy Grant
- Gavin Perkins
- Ben Pfahlert
- Archie Poulos
- Nicole Starling
- Mark Thompson
- Jean Williams
- Lionel Windsor
Sandy—what would it look like to read this verse christologically? Could Jesus be a ‘better Nehemiah’, overturning the cleansing the temple etc?
It struck me that we have the same problem in many texts—it’s just that we are not used to hair pulling!
Texts like this one are Josiah in 2 Kings 23, and the weird one in Numbers 25:
7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly.
What do you think?
And if you want to hear the Non-Lionel Windsor approach to the Hair-pulling texts, then enjoy the last few minutes of Mark Driscoll’s Dwell sermon here. Mark preached that Nehemiah is a kind of urban church planting manual.
The part that raised my eye-brows and got me thinking about that verse happens at around 47 minutes into Mark’s sermon. It got some laughs, but I was thinking that we need to read Nehemiah through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus, rather than as an ancient code for discipline, church planting or anything else.
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