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15Apr 202522 Apr 2025

Easter picture of Kendall, Jonathan, and Mj outside in front of plants and trees just beginning to bloom.

Easter 2025 Family Update

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with…

26Oct 202026 Oct 2020

“Why Worship?” series

Since most of my students use Instagram, I’ve been putting shortened ~7-8 minute versions of our youth lessons on that…

16Sep 202020 Sep 2020

9.16.20 Virtue- Temperance (Wednesday Night Bible Study)

This is an all church Wednesday Night Bible study I taught on 9.16.20 at 7th & James Baptist Church in…

7th & James Youth Mission Trip 2018

5 Sep 201810 May 2020

The context: Hurricane Harvey was the second costliest storm in United States History. In Houston, America’s most diverse city, thousands upon thousands of people faced flood damage, and grave uncertainty…

“More than we thought we wanted”

5 Aug 201828 Oct 2020

What we want is not what always what God gives. That is good news. A sermon delivered at 7th & James Baptist Church. Waco, TX. “More than we thought we…

Tara Beth Leach “Emboldened” (IVP Press, ’17) REVIEW

6 Apr 201827 Sep 2020

This is not a book about how to interpret the passages used to prevent women from seeking ordination. If you're looking for a theological / scriptural argument, the best free…

“Compelled to proclaim freely” – 1 Corinthians 9

4 Feb 201829 May 2018

Audio recording of sermon available on SoundCloud here: https://soundcloud.com/jonathan-balmer/feb042018_sermon_jonathanbalmer “Compelled to proclaim freely” ♦ 5th Sunday After Epiphany ♦ 2.4.18 ♦ 7th & James Baptist Church ♦ Jonathan Balmer 1…

“So Abraham Went” Sermon 500th anniversary of the Reformation

31 Oct 20175 Sep 2018

Truett seminary hosted a preaching conference. All the sermons were to find their basis in Genesis. I preached earlier today, which happens to be Halloween (All Saints Day Eve), and…

Where does Truett seminary stand Theologically? A description by Dean Todd Still

25 Aug 201717 Jul 2019

The entire opening convocation was a wonderful way to begin my second year of seminary. We all gathered together as a seminary, faculty and students, new and old, worshipped God,…

Fleming Rutledge on Justification

19 Dec 201617 Jul 2019

"God is using you in spite of yourself. We aren't responsible for making progress. Whatever progress is made will be the gift of God. Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock.…

Stephen Speers and I explore Jungwon (Fulbright: 1 Year Since)

13 Jul 201615 Jul 2019

For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that there is not much to follow. In short, this grant year, I have done horribly at documenting…

Visiting Gwangju: Mid-term school observation trip report.

1 May 20161 May 2016

My principal gave me mid-terms off to travel to Gwangju, under the condition that I write a report and take pictures about what I saw. So, I thought, let's kill…

What have I been doing?

14 Feb 201614 Feb 2016

Things went dark around here after week 3.5 in orientation. Turns out Fulbright Korea Orientation gets pretty busy. Perhaps, around April, I will post about that. Just in time for…