Jonathan M. Threlfall

Thoughts on Christian Theology and Pastoring

  • Four Essential Qualities of Leadership

    All four are crucial for building and maintaining trust, which is the foundation of leadership.

  • Leadership: Ask Yourself, Who Would I Want to Follow?

    Trust is the sacred bond between leader and follower. If trust is broken, leadership isn’t happening.

  • Genesis and Gender

    As the Bible presents it, the fact that humans are either male or female is not a roadblock to individual expression, as modern Western culture sees it. Nor is it a divine curse, as the ancient mythologies present it. Rather, it is a good gift from God—a gift that brings flourishing, joy, and beauty.

  • Living Hope

    Someone has said that hope is like listening to the music of the future, and faith is the courage to dance to it today. In the resurrection of Jesus, we can hear the music of the future—a world of love and life—so why not dance to it?

  • Relationships

    Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Genesis 2:18 These words are jarring. To this point in the narrative, we have heard “good” repeated again and again. Six times during the week of creation, God looked at what he had made and declared it to be “good.” Then, when…

  • The Garden Temple

    What are we to learn from the details of this primal paradise? In Genesis 2, we are struck with its beauty and bounty. In Genesis 3, we read that humans were banished from it. And in the New Testament we discover what brought about that breakthrough so we could find our true home again.

  • Man of Dust, Man of Heaven

    It is hardly possible to exaggerate the marvel of what Paul is presenting here. Without saying that our “dust-like” existence will be completely undone, he is setting forth a vision in which our human existence will take on a new form, a form which, like Jesus’ post-resurrection body, is suited for an endless life in…

  • The Rest We Need

    God rested, not for his sake, but for ours: to teach us that all life and its activity is for delighting in a relationship with God within the work he has completed. This is why Jesus, who completed the work of our salvation, invites us to come to him for our true soul-rest.

  • “Be Fruitful and Multiply”—A Blessing and Command

    God blessed them and said to them,“Be fruitful and increase in number;fill the earth and subdue it.”Genesis 1:28 This verse is a bit like an acorn: small and seemingly unimpressive, it holds the potential of a mighty oak tree. In the mandate to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” we can…

  • Created in God’s Image

    The question, “Who am I?” cannot be answered by looking within ourselves, but only by looking outside ourselves, into the gaze of our Creator who says, “You are mine. You bear my image and resemble me so that you can enjoy a relationship with me and exercise every feature of your humanness to reflect my…