The young Christian man enters the large worship center. The sound of an amp-turned-too-loud hits his ears, as the female worship leader on stage hits a long note on the microphone. He can literally feel the bass where he stands. He looks around: the music is deafening and some hands are raised, but almost hardly anyone is singing. I can’t hear myself think!
The upbeat song plays high on emotion, but little on content. The strobes, the smoke machine, and the lasers all seem . . . manufactured. Everyone sits down and looks at a large screen in the front. The announcement video reminds the congregation about the giving campaign to update the parking lot, and it mentions that that the Associate Pastor will be preaching today. The young man looks down at the title of the half-page handout he was given: “How to be an Overcomer.”
Lost in thought about where that sermon title might be found in Scripture, the pastor walks on stage full of energy, and she starts to preach. Really? Twenty minutes later, the pep talk—sprinkled generously with Proverbs—is over. She starts to pray, and there is a seamless transition to the final reflective song. The song ends, and he looks at his watch. The service started and ended in exactly fifty-eight minutes.
As the lights undim, the young man stands there, surrounded by people walking and talking past him (the second morning service will be starting soon). He looks up to heaven and wonders if there’s more to Christianity than this.
Go West, Young Men: Evaluating the Drift toward Eastern Orthodoxy
Sadly, too many young men experience some variation of the kind of church described above: a church that has no history beyond the current senior pastor, a church whose statement of faith has no stated connection to the past, and a church that avoids deeper theology to address felt needs. In contrast to this mix comes Eastern Orthodoxy: an ancient religious movement that is both sturdy and mysterious.
The following week, this same man walks into an Eastern Orthodox church, and he is struck by the contrast: the stunning architecture, the seriousness, the solemnity, the pauses of silence, the smell of incense, the intricate icons that line the walls, the majesty and masculinity of the priest. And is that real bread and wine (?!) the priest offers? This is the type of ancient, masculine, and serious Christianity this young man has longed for. As is so often the case, before the would-be convert is taken by the theology of Eastern Orthodoxy, he is taken by its vibe—a sense of the divine that contrasts with the a-historic, feminine, and cheap version of Protestantism with which he is all too familiar.
And yet, not all that is old is gold, and not everything that pleases the senses enlightens the soul. This month, our aim at Christ Over All is to help people to understand this mysterious religious movement called Eastern Orthodoxy. Like the noble Bereans, we hope to test what it believes with the Scriptures. Where did Eastern Orthodoxy come from, and what does it affirm? What is theosis, what are the essence/energies distinction in the divine, and what are its main points of departure from Protestantism?
One of the crossroads that young men stand before is the choice between the Christian tradition of the East or the West, between the tradition of Constantinople and Rome, as well as Wittenburg, Geneva, (Old) Princeton. After this month, we hope that these men will be equipped to make the right and biblical choice—without having to leave history, solemnity, and masculinity at the door.
Resurrection in the Old Testament
These men are constantly confronted with the Eastern Orthodox charge that Protestantism is a novelty departing from the historic faith. Yet the Protestant tradition that forefronts the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a recent invention, and in fact its roots go back far—as far back as the third day of creation itself. Indeed, all through the Old Testament we see the seeds of resurrection hope, and sometimes in the least expected places. the Apostle Paul himself alerts Christians to these seeds of third day resurrection when he wrote about the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5:
3 I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (emphasis added)
Stephen Dempster surveyed how these third day deliverances pulse throughout the Law and the Prophets. Life from the dead finds purchase in the birth of Isaac and his sacrifice in Genesis 22, it springs up in the blemished priests of Leviticus 21 and the redeemer who lives in Job 19. Resurrection life courses through the entire Psalter, with particular clusters in Psalm 16, and Psalms 22–24. Jonah experiences a type of resurrection, the bones of Ezekiel live again, and of course, there is the most undisputed instance of Old Testament resurrection in Daniel 12:1–3.
These pictures of resurrection are built on typology, the understanding that patterns exist in biblical persons, places, events, and institutions that find their fulfillment in Christ and his Church. When Jesus talked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he explained to them “in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” And while April 2026 by no means exhausts the Old Testament pointers to Christ, it hits on some of the instances of resurrection. If you missed any of these articles, you can check them out below, with the longforms and their podcast discussions in bold.
- Genesis 22, A Parabolic Shadow and Foreshadowing Prophecy: “Abraham . . . Received Isaac Back from the Dead in A Parable” (Hebrews 11:19) by Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • Parabolically speaking, the author of Hebrews speaks of the near sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 as a resurrection. But what does this mean?
- The Seeds of Resurrection Hope in the Scripturesby Stephen Dempster • Longform Essay • The resurrection of Christ on the third day is a key piece of the gospel message. Did the idea of a third day resurrection come from nowhere, or was this event foreshadowed by the Old Testament?
- 5.20 “The Seeds of Resurrection Hope in the Scriptures”by Stephen Dempster • Podcast Reading • The resurrection of Christ on the third day is a key piece of the gospel message. Did the idea of a third day resurrection come from nowhere, or was this event foreshadowed by the Old Testament?
- Resurrection Typology in the Birth of Isaac by Thomas J. Sculthorpe • Concise Article • Barrenness is death. But it is not the end of the story. God shines resurrection hope even into barrenness. We see this in Genesis: Sarah’s womb, dead in barrenness, is brought to life in the birth of Isaac.
- Can These Dry Bones Live?: Resurrection in Ezekiel by Peter J. Gentry • Concise Article • For many, the resurrection is a feature of the New Testament and not the Old. The prophet Ezekiel begs to differ!
- Psalm 16: “Rise Heart, Thy Lord is Risen” by Brad Baugham • Concise Article • We hear a voice of bravado sing around the graveside of Psalm 16—was that king David, or did it have a more Galilean ring? The Apostles heard the voice too, and they are confident of its source. Arise, O heart!
- 5.21 “The Seeds of Resurrection Hope in the Scriptures” by David Schrock, Trent Hunter, & Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • Join David Schrock, Trent Hunter, and Stephen Wellum as they discuss Stephen Dempster’s COA Longform Essay “The Seeds of Resurrection Hope in the Scriptures”
- Good News for Blemished Priests: A Resurrection Meditation on Leviticus 21 by David Schrock • Concise Article • In Leviticus 21, blemished priests are barred from approaching God. How can that be good news, especially for disabled Christians today? Yet this passage points beyond itself. Only the unblemished approach God, but in Christ, the blemish are raised unblemished.
- Those Who Sleep Shall Awake: The Fullest Old Testament Expression of Resurrection Hope by Mitch Chase • Concise Article • The book of Daniel can be cryptic and challenging to interpret. However, when we read closely, Daniel gives us a picture of resurrection hope!
- On the Third Day: Seeing Resurrection from Beginning to Endby David Schrock • Longform Essay • The theme of resurrection is prominent in scripture from its very first pages until the end. See how it is present in the creation account of Genesis.
- 5.22 “On the Third Day: Seeing Resurrection from Beginning to End”by David Schrock • Podcast Reading • The theme of resurrection is prominent in scripture from its very first pages until the end. See how it is present in the creation account of Genesis.
- Vindication and Resurrection in Job 19:25–27 by Richard P. Belcher Jr. • Concise Article • The gavel strikes. The courtroom falls silent. Is Job innocent or guilty as his friends claim? His life hangs in the balance; his vindication will bring life.
- The Return of the King: Death, Resurrection, and Ascension in Psalms 22–24 by Doug Ponder • Concise Article • Jesus is the forsaken one in Psalm 22, the one who survives the shadow of death in Psalm 23, and the victorious one in Psalm 24. Together, these three Psalms tell the story of his death, resurrection, and ascension.
- Hymns of Death, Hymns of Life: Resurrection in the Psalms & Psalter by Nicholas Piotrowski • Concise Article • In Luke 24:44, Jesus tells his disciples that the Old Testament pointed towards his own death and resurrection. See how the Psalms and the Psalter reflect this truth.
- 5.23 “On the Third Day: Seeing Resurrection from Beginning to End” by David Schrock, Trent Hunter, & Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • Listen in as Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum interview David Schrock on his COA Longform essay, “On the Third Day: Seeing Resurrection from Beginning to End”
- “Out of the Belly of Sheol”: Jonah’s Prophecy of a Risen Substitute by Cory Chilcote • Concise Article • Jesus says that no sign will be given to his generation except the sign of Jonah. How exactly is Jonah a sign that relates to Jesus’s death and resurrection? Does Jesus = Jonah?
News and Notes
First, we now have PDFs available online—half off!
More than half our themes are now available for download. You can find them in the Store Tab. As you will see, every theme is formatted and organized for easy printing. For a sample, you can go to September 2022 or October 2022, where both of those months are free for download. For the rest, the regular price will be $15. But for now, we have them marked off by half.
These PDFs, which have a book’s worth of material in each volume, are intended to help you better read a large section of a given subject and to share them in your church as needed. Once you download a PDF, they are there for your use for ministry, teaching, and training. We would ask that you don’t republish them online, but please make use of them freely in your ministries.
Second, come join Christ Over All for lunch in Charlottesville, Virginia on June 19, 2026.
If you are in or near Virginia, or if you want to make the drive to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, come join David Schrock at the Reformark Missions Conference happening in Charlottesville, Virginia on June 19–20.
Christ Over All is helping sponsor this event. And David will be there on Friday, June 19 to share about the mission and vision of COA. If you are able, come to the conference and join him for lunch, where you will receive a couple books and we can talk about how Christ Over All might help you in your local ministry.
Third, be aware of our upcoming months.
If you have interest in one of the following topics in bold and are interested in writing for us (in line with our doctrinal distinctives), feel free to shoot us an email to tell us what you are thinking.
June: Unmasking Islam
July: Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary
August: A Sabbath Rest: A Collection of COA’s Best Essays . . . So Far
September: The Ten Commandments
October: Pastor, Be Political: A Guide to Glorifying God in the Midterms
November: Economics 101
December: Christmas Carols to the Glory of God
December is a short story (~5000 words) contest. Submit a Christmas themed story, and enter a chance to win a cash prize.
That’s all for now. Until next time, let’s remember that because Christ is Lord over all, we ought to exalt Christ in all things
