"There is hardly a better apology for the state of weakness on the pages of the Bible. In a world and culture that extolled power and success (always a pagan obsession), the apostle Paul embraced everything that made his life miserable."

Read and listen to, THE GOSPEL OF WEAKNESS by Nikolai Boyadjiev now.

“The warning is clear and so relevant for our days: it is possible to be so engaged in normal, daily activities; to be so distracted by news and events; so busy pursuing hobbies and inoffensive passions, that we become numb to the prophecies, careless about the times we are living… and That Day of Judgement catches us surprise.”

Read and listen to, DISTRACTION, NUMBNESS AND THE CARES OF THIS LIFE • PART I by Susana Maranatha now.

“The primary goal of our lives in this age is to bear witness to the King and the Kingdom that’s coming. Sometimes God will use miracles to accomplish this witness; often He uses our faithfulness through suffering instead.”

Read and listen to, GEN Z: MIRACLES & MARTYRDOM by Grayson Borders now.

“Domestication is the process of taking something that is naturally wild and taming it to make it suitable to fit within a domestic world… the domestication of the Gospel causes it to lose the sharp edge of confrontation that disciples so desperately need. ”

Read and listen to, THE PERIL OF DOMESTICATING THE GOSPEL by Bill Scofield now.

“The prophets foresaw both Israel’s stumbling and the salvation of the Gentiles, culminating in Israel’s restoration. Paul grasped this divine mystery: Jesus will not return until a remnant from every nation is gathered in, and this ingathering of the nations will lead to the salvation of all Israel.”

Read and listen to, PAUL'S ANGUISH AND THE HEART OF GOD: PART 2 by Paulo Maranatha now.

“The prophets and the apostles had access to that pain, they embraced it as their own, they felt it, and contrary to any intuition it obviously sustained them. It is counterintuitive and paradoxical indeed that pain could sustain, and build-up character. Unless that pain is the expression of undying love…”

Read and listen to, "Undying Love & Discipleship" by Nikolai Boyadjiev now.

It’s safe to say both Gaius and John were “hardcore.” They went all-in on obeying Jesus. But they were also healthy… Both matter. But how are both of these concepts and commands brought under the banner of obedience? 

Read and listen to, TO BE HEALTHY OR TO BE HARDCORE? by Stephanie Quick now.

"In the first days of June 1967, Israel found itself surrounded on every side. The armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, had mobilized along the armistice lines, massing hundreds of thousands of ground troops in the Sinai, West Bank, and Golan Heights, supported by thousands of tanks and aircraft. Vastly outnumbered, the Israeli Army knew that a massive, multi-pronged invasion force would likely overwhelm the nascent Jewish State... Defense Minister Moshe Dayan advised that there was 'a limit to our ability to defeat the Arabs.'"

Read and listen to, THE SIX DAY MIRACLE by Gabriel Caligiuri now.

“…the seed is the Word of God and the sower spreads the seeds wherever he goes. Not all of them bear fruit and even the ones that fall into good soil bear different amounts of fruit, but this does not discourage the sower. He knows what he has is precious and worthy of being distributed.”

Read and listen to, THE SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW by Susana Maranatha now.

“A cheaply won, ‘personal-escape-route-to-Cloud-Heaven’ Gospel will never be attractive to Gen Z. They want solutions that work on a global and communal scale. My generation is crying out for justice and a half-baked Gospel just won’t cut it.”

Read and listen to, GEN Z & THE DAY OF THE LORD by Grayson Borders now.

“The way that the nations behave has never been an acceptable path for the Jewish people. It is a heavy calling and there is no opt-out option for the Jew.”

Read and listen to, THE IRREVOCABLE BLESSING & BURDEN OF ELECTION by Bill Scofield now.

To browse the footnotes and citations, visit our website at theemmaustable.world/inkwell

“What made 'their number' distinct enough from the rest of the people that they might be recognized as a social unit that could be joined? It wasn’t the venue. They assembled in the Temple. It wasn’t their unique spirit-filled worship services; the worship services were liturgical functions led by the Levitical class. The thing that set the earliest church apart from the rest of the Jewish people was their table.”

Read and listen to, THE SACRED FELLOWSHIP TABLE by Daniel T Lancaster now.

"If the coming of Jesus had subverted or altered God’s plan for Israel, Paul would not have been suffering or consumed by unceasing sorrow for his people. Paul’s heart burned for Israel’s salvation."

Read and listen to, PAUL'S ANGUISH AND THE HEART OF GOD: PART 1 by Paulo Costa now.

"If we lack Jerusalem, we are untethered from the “sure and steadfast anchor of our souls,” the hope of the resurrection and coming restoration. And in our unmooring, we are unprepared to bear faithful witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom to those perishing without knowledge. Worse yet, the danger of a different gospel is that we may well be perishing ourselves."

Read and listen to, "The Danger of a Different Gospel" by Stephanie Quick now.