The first in a series of three sermons given by Dr. Ralph Blair at the 2011 Preaching Festival held in Ocean Grove, N.J. His fellow Jews despised Matthew. As the Roman occupation’s local tax collector, they viewed him as a traitor, taking whatever cash Rome required and keeping for himself whatever more than that he…
The second in a series of three sermons given by Dr. Ralph Blair at the 2011 Preaching Festival held in Ocean Grove, N.J. Jesus said: How fortunate are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. A New Yorker cartoon depicts a sadsack newly arrived at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter is inspecting the computer…
The third in a series of three sermons given by Dr. Ralph Blair at the 2011 Preaching Festival held in Ocean Grove, N.J. Six years ago, we celebrated the 1604 launching of the King James Version of the Bible. After six years’ work on translation, the King James Bible was published. 2011 marks the 400th…
A keynote address by Dr. Blair at the 68th & 69th ConnECtions of Evangelicals Concerned, 2011 On the night before he sacrificed himself for sinners, consuming the cup of wrath with all its debris, decay, death and utter destruction – the forewarned fallout of our fall into sin – Jesus prayed for his followers. He…
I Corinthians by Alan F. Johnson (InterVarsity Press, 2004) This review focuses on a Wheaton College professor’s cursory but careless comments on I Corinthians 6:9, contrasted with his nuanced work on chapter 7. Noting the two terms in 6:9 that “have evoked considerable debate”, Johnson repeats some tired superficialities and moves on to a careful…
Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Parents, Pastors and Friends by Mark Yarhouse (Bethany House, 2010), 256 pp. In his Preface, this psych prof at Pat Robertson’s Regent University urges that we “move away” from discussing “whether orientation can change.” Having championed the long-discredited and destructive hype for change, he now equivocates but also…
Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden (Pantheon Books, 2010), 214 pp. “What Marriage Is For” by The Editors, National Review, September 20, 2010. A published translator of Vergil, Homer, Aristophanes and Petronius – and now of Paul – Ruden was interviewed recently in Christianity Today…
1910 ~ The Centennials ~ 2010 William Holman Hunt – Louis Klopsh – The Fundamentals – F. F. Bruce This is the opening talk by Dr. Ralph Blair given at the 20120Preaching Festival. The 201o weekend focused on a group of centennial, historical Christians whose journeys and testimonies are an encouragement and inspiration to all. Sermons from…
The first in a series of three sermons given by Dr. Ralph Blair at the 2010 Preaching Festival held in Ocean Grove, N.J. “Ye Olde Postmodernism” Prefixing “Postmodernism” with the quaintness of “Ye Olde” and its visions of English village shambles and whiffs of ale and Cheshire cheese, isn’t as anachronistic as “Ye Olde’s” pseudo…
The second in a series of three sermons given by Dr. Ralph Blair at the 2010 Preaching Festival held in Ocean Grove, N.J. “The Good News: It’s a Whole Lot More!” Luke gives us this report: “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were approached by a slave girl who had…