“We absolutely need to have biblical faithfulness about this topic, but I also plead with leaders to not forget the people who are in the throes of working out their faith and repentance because of personal battles with same-sex desires.”   In recent years, there’s been a lot of online chatter and debate about homosexuality... Continue Reading

We find it harder to follow and understand the corporate aspects of Biblical teaching, because we’re mired in individualistic thinking and language. We must be aware of that and be more deliberate in finding and emphasising them.   While any sort of individualism is a product of Christianity, the form of individualism we currently have... Continue Reading

Neither prophecy (further messianic revelation) nor additional sacrifices (of the old covenant), nor a rebuilding of Jerusalem and its temple, are forthcoming. They are not needed. Once Christ has come, what remains yet to be accomplished? Even death has been defeated.   I’ve been reading through Athanasius’ classic text, On the Incarnation. In Section 39,... Continue Reading

Whether we are urban or rural, childless or fecund, conservative or liberal in our outlook, well-credentialed or not, the crucial question, empirically as well as morally, is this: What will we teach our children to associate with the true, the good, and the beautiful during their earliest and most impressionable years? The fate of our... Continue Reading

The teachable person is eager to change his doctrine and practice when it’s out of step with Scripture. He will also (and only) be “immoveable” if asked to move away from Scripture (1 Cor 15:58).    I spend most of my time teaching, but if there was one thing I wish I could teach people, it’s “teachability”!... Continue Reading

Perhaps Christians can be most countercultural by setting aside all of our preferences and certainly our insistence upon them and taking our starting point as submission to God’s Word.   Recently, I have been reading Carl Trueman’s excellent newest book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Crossway, 2020), and listening to Christianity Today’s fascinating podcast... Continue Reading

He calls each of us to be obedient in the context he has ordained for us. For the end of the matter, when all else has been heard, is that we are to simply fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the sacred duty of every man, the kind expectation of a loving... Continue Reading

We cannot be oblivious to our situation and still remain faithful Christians. Some facts will call for new apologetic arguments, some for new ways of presenting the gospel; some facts will appear to help, some will appear to hinder. But no fact should make us hide; the moment we hide away we leave God’s world... Continue Reading

To be Bereans is not just to search the Scriptures as we now have them in full, but to search the Old Testament in particular and there see God’s plan of redemption through Christ’s death and resurrection.   As I grew up in conservative Baptist churches, there was no Christian trait more valuable than Bible... Continue Reading

The foundation for Francis Schaeffer’s basic approach to apologetics is simply to recognize that man is an image-bearer.  Man even in his sin has personality, significance, and worth.  Therefore, the apologist should approach him in those terms.     The decisive result of falling below the line of despair is a pitting of rationality against faith. ... Continue Reading