On Culture, Caesar, and Biblical Critical Theory
Book Review—There is plenty of incisive commentary in the new volume, "Biblical Critical Theory," by Christopher Watkin.
Watkin reminds us that the biblical story, or metanarrative, is also a far ranging ideological assessment of culture. It too offers a type of critical theory: it also tests and evaluates all things, but in the light of God and his Word. And the aim is not revolution but redemption. The new book by a Monash University philosophy professor and Christian thinker... Continue Reading
Taking a Dog by the Ears
Constructive correction in controversy, rather than cancellation, is a wiser course—for everyone.
Egalitarians and progressives have learned a lesson. They have learned that they can manipulate TGC with unfounded mob accusations of misogyny and harm. This is not good for [Joshua] Butler. It’s not good for TGC. And it’s certainly not good for the truth. Last week people kept asking me if I was going to... Continue Reading
Is It Okay to Be White?
When guilt is assigned and sacrifice demanded based solely on a person’s skin color, a lack of respect can transform into indignation.
The perspectives of men like James Brown and Scott Adams are overt appeals to skin color. While the motivations for these appeals vary, the goal is the same: self-help, pride, and temporal well-being. A question like “Is it okay to be white?” and its provocative musical counterpart, “Say it loud, black, and proud,” are short-sighted... Continue Reading
Department of Education to Remove Protections for Religious Campus Groups
The U.S. Department of Education announced its intention to rescind the “Free Inquiry Rule,” which was designed to fix the pressuring and discriminating against religious student groups.
Protecting religious expression is vital, not just for Christians, but for everyone. Conscience rights are pre-political rights and provide the foundation on which every other liberty is built. In February, the U.S. Department of Education announced its intention to rescind the “Free Inquiry Rule,” established in 2020 by then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. According to the... Continue Reading
The Day a Dutchman Broke My Brain
There’s a divine thread running from the yellow tulip in my front yard all the way back to the incomprehensible, infinitely mysterious Trinity.
I’m glad a Dutchman broke my brain that day. He took me into a windowed room I’d never entered. And now the rest of the world is bathed in biblical light as I strive to stay low, worship well, and love deeply. Learning new things is like opening doors to windowed rooms. We can... Continue Reading
Pineapples and Biblical Interpretation—What’s the Connection?
The meaning of a word is found only in its current usage in its particular context at the time it was written.
To avoid root fallacies when interpreting the meaning of biblical words, use the help of reliable lexicons along with knowing how the same writer uses the particular word elsewhere. Then strive to understand the word in its immediate context. Your understanding of the Bible will be noticeably and fruitfully enhanced. The very first fallacy... Continue Reading
On Complementarity
The erasure of distinctions between the sexes is not only the most striking issue of our time, it may be the most profound the race has ever confronted.
The same God who upholds the universe with the word of his power, is the same God who declared that men must lead in the home and the church, and thus it is his command and his design, not ours, that says qualified men should teach and exercise authority in the church. Indeed, there is... Continue Reading
The Ground Erodes under Feminists’ Feet
And evangelical feminism will face the same crisis.
Some evangelicals made their own deal with the devil, downgrading the meaning and significance of the sexes to accommodate the spirit of the age…They once believed that men were men and women were women. And that was because they could still feel the foundations of a Christian culture beneath their feet. But, no more. ... Continue Reading
Why Do Parents of Gay Children Change Their Theological Minds
We do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be holy and good.
The contrast between this ethic and the Christian understanding of human nature and God’s law could not be greater. Because we are fallen creatures, we must not look within to find the truth about ourselves. The human heart is darkened. God revealed His law so that, in its light, we might see ourselves clearly. And... Continue Reading
PCA Minister Roland Barnes Reflects on 42 Years of Meals, Missions, And Memories
Roland Barnes, Senior Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Statesboro, will retire this spring after 42 years serving in the ministry.
The Central Georgia Presbytery first called the Rev. Barnes to start the local Presbyterian Church as a mission church. He said that initial church started with just five families in addition to his own. Pastor Barnes said, “I came to Statesboro in April 1981. For the first six months or so, we met in a... Continue Reading
Natural Law: An Introduction, Part 2
What is the relationship of natural law to Scripture? is that they’re mutually supportive. Both are necessary to moral understanding, and together they are the foundation for it.
Our culture slipped away some time ago from the dictates of natural law, even though they’re fairly obvious, and have replaced them with radical individual autonomy and so-called “authenticity,” which often means simply freedom from any kind of moral, social, or natural restraint. Once we divorced Scripture’s imprimatur from natural law, it became first debatable,... Continue Reading
Paul’s Teaching on Male Elders in 1 Timothy 2–3
Unity and Order in the Church
Paul urges women to learn in quietness and submission, while in verse 12 he states that he doesn’t permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. The infinitives “to teach” (didaskein) and “to have/exercise authority” (authentein) contrast what Paul doesn’t permit women to do with what he does want them to do: learn and be “in... Continue Reading
“The Salvation of Your Souls” (1 Peter 1:1-12)—Words from Peter to the Pilgrim Church (Part Two)
Our faith—weak as it is—is guarded in the midst of our struggles by the very same power through which God raised Jesus from the dead.
In the midst of our struggles, Peter reminds us that God’s track record of keeping his promises is pretty good. In Jesus Christ, the Father has caused us to be born again, and through the work of his Spirit, he ensures the salvation of our souls. He has promised to save us from our sins–he... Continue Reading
Be A Modern-Day Wilberforce and End Abortion In Alabama
You need to be the modern-day William Wilberforce.
The church must proclaim the mercy of Christ who came to live, die, and rise again to save hell-deserving sinners by faith in Him — forgiving all of His people’s sins, including the sin of abortion. However, the state’s role is not to show grace but to do justice: to praise those who do good... Continue Reading
The Comfort of His Coming: An Amillennial Interpretation 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10, With a Critique of the Dispensational Interpretation of Dr. John MacArthur
When the Lord returns, we shall always be together: together with him and together with one other.
Observe carefully that Paul says nothing at all about the Lord removing his Church to Heaven. The apostle leaves her—and us—in the air. What, then, will take place after this happy reunion? Here, Paul does not say. However, what he does say suggests an interpretation far richer than that of the dispensationalists. Paul writes, “And as a result of these things,... Continue Reading
Know the Fear of the Lord
The genuine fear of the Lord means reverent submission that leads to obedience, and it is interchangeable with worship of God.
Genuine fear of the Lord is reserved for those who know Jesus. This fear of the Lord means reverent submission that leads to obedience, and it is interchangeable with worship of God, reliance on him, trust in him, and hope in him. You will find it when you can come to the Lord and are... Continue Reading
Enjoying What is Good in the World and Not Underestimating the Power of the Holy Spirit
God has ultimately made a world for us to enjoy.
Clearly there is much good in the world. Clearly there is much to be enjoyed. It is not worldliness to enjoy things in the world. If it causes us to give thanks to God and to love Jesus more, and it is not causing us to sin, have at it. Often the views and matters... Continue Reading
The Responsibility of Shepherding God’s Sheep
Leadership is necessary in the church, and God has designed the church to be led by faithful shepherds.
As we consider the responsibility entrusted to the hands of shepherds, for those of us who are pastors we must approach our post seriously. As a Christian take time to consider the work of pastors in the life of the church and pray earnestly for the men who are called to shepherd you and your... Continue Reading
The Lord Turned and Looked
Thinking about what Peter saw on Jesus's face after the rooster crowed.
What will be our recourse when our shame ensnares us and we realize we’ve believed the lies of the enemy and that we’ve spurned the Holy One of God? We must look to Christ. And when we look to Christ, we will find that he has turned to us first. And here’s some good news:... Continue Reading
Why is Forgiveness so Hard? Part 2
Forgiveness is Humbling
All of us struggle with pride to one degree or another, and we bring it into every relationship that we have. Sometimes our pride manifests itself in an over-sensitivity to criticism, and we get our feelings hurt far too easily. More frequently it manifests itself in a resistance to forgiveness. Pride makes it unlikely that... Continue Reading
“Children of God?”
Being God’s children is no inherent right of ours; it is given by grace to those who believe and receive Christ.
What is the state of those who have not received the Spirit of adoption, those who have not received Christ? They are, as we were, “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). “Sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2) upon which the wrath of God will be poured out (Ephesians 5:6). Those not of Christ are “sons of... Continue Reading
“Firm in Faith”: Trusting God in Uncertain Times
How can Christians be firm in faith when they are fearful?
Our hope is in God, just as it was for Ahaz. If we are to stand in the days of our own troubles, we must be firm in the faith. We must trust our Lord God, the sovereign ruler of all creation, because he is faithful to his promises. We can trust that God will continue... Continue Reading
Please Don’t Take Things for Granted
We often learn key life lessons far too late.
What does it take to wake us up? Sadly it is often the case – for Christians just as much as non-Christians – that it takes some mega-tragedy or crisis or emergency to wake us up and remind us of the things that really matter. For example, some four or five years ago I often prayed... Continue Reading
Overcoming the Obstacle of Legalism in Prayer
Two main ways we can be legalistic about prayer: thinking too much about the quality and quantity of our prayers.
It’s interesting to note that a good deal of biblical commands to pray come with a promise of the amazing results that prayer can have. This means that these commands to pray are not to burden us, but rather to inspire us. Don’t let a legalistic mindset make you focus on your own actions or... Continue Reading
Peace, Purity, and Prosperity with Euodia and Synteche
Peace is disturbed in the church when when we place our preferences (a form of idolatry) above the mission of Christ and make the church our own kingdom.
The solution to a lack of peace in the church is a simple fix. What is the solution? The solution is: not to forget that which is primary in the Kingdom of Christ. What is primary in the Kingdom of Christ is not my personal proclivities, but what Christ says in his Word. It is not traditions that have been handed... Continue Reading
Why is Forgiveness so Hard? Part 1
Forgiveness is difficult precisely because we have something to forgive.
We don’t like actually having something to forgive, because having something to forgive means that we have been hurt or offended. It means that a debt has been incurred. Having something to forgive signals the fact that something is not right. Pain or loss has come into our lives, a friend has betrayed us, a... Continue Reading
Are You Having an Influence?
The only influencers we really need are committed Christian ones.
There are all sorts of folks in the world seeking to be an influencer, seeking to push a product or concept. The most vital sort of being an agent of influence is to be a sold out, Spirit-empowered, biblically-literate follower of Jesus Christ. The world is starved for those sorts of influencers. Will you be one? ... Continue Reading
S.L.O.W.
How to Love Suffering People
If you have a friend who is struggling and don’t know how to help, perhaps start by getting together. Be prepared to come close — not standing on the edge, waiting to be asked, but willingly entering the messiness of pain. It probably means listening and praying more than speaking, along with offering specific help... Continue Reading
Reflections on the Death of my Friends
In Sadness and Mourning...
My prayer is that we would receive God’s comfort, care, and love while we mourn. Praise our Heavenly Father that through Jesus, He offers us eternal life. What more could we ever ask for? What an incredible blessing! At the same time, my prayer is that each one of us would not waste the moment... Continue Reading
Seeing Patterns
The Bible is a patterned narrative.
Firstly, we read the Bible and then we read it some more. Pay attention to the patterns and shapes we find there. These are the patterns and shapes of the way God moves in history. Does God do a new thing (Isaiah 43)? Yes, but in the shape of his purposes, given to us in... Continue Reading
