Proposed rod substitutions are numerous. You’ve probably heard of many. Hot sauce. Time outs. Warnings. Withholding cartoons. A flick. Sometimes these are assumed to be hermeneutically legitimate variations of the commended rob in Proverbs. So, is the rod in Proverbs to be taken literally or metaphorically?   It’s a question parents sometimes ask. “Is the... Continue Reading

Bear in mind that there will be very important choices that you will have to make in your life, especially in those seemingly insignificant moments each day and week as you encounter God’s word in your own reading of the Bible or during the hearing of sermons. Will you pay close attention, or allow yourself... Continue Reading

The certainty of the saints’ salvation is confirmed by the adjectives Peter uses to describe it: “incorruptible” meaning it is imperishable and immortal, “undefiled” meaning it is pure, and “fadeth not away” or “unfading” meaning it does not lessen over time. The salvation is certain along with those who participate in it—the saved: “who are kept... Continue Reading

The response God wants of us is thanksgiving. He wants us to see our possessions being extended to us by His open hand of provision. The money we have derives from jobs He has provided and skills He has gifted and competencies He has honed. A life of thanks should adorn our lives like the... Continue Reading

We’ve got events—what you might call history. We’ve got theology in terms of the meaning of history. We’ve also got literary artistry because God is a God of beauty. God is fully able to communicate to us in a way that draws us in, that has some of those qualities that stimulate our hearts and... Continue Reading

Encourage ambivalence toward his wife and children. Pastors’ families are easily put on unrealistic pedestals. People can equate the wife with a quasi-associate pastor or counselor, and the children can be made to live under constant scrutiny and feel like they have to share their parents with everyone. Their need to feel loved and embraced... Continue Reading

I didn’t make it.  All of the pent up pressure (much of it self-imposed), all of the uncertainties, the burn out I was feeling over ministry at the time – despite the best efforts of one of the best pastors I’ve ever worked with – pulled some sort of trigger somewhere and everything fell apart. ... Continue Reading

Liberal theology may well be rooted in highly sophisticated theories and articulated by extremely intelligent people, but it tends to result in liturgical practices that are at best banal and at worst childish. Talking to plants is a fine candidate for the latter category. Better the robust atheism of a Bertrand Russell or a Christopher... Continue Reading

This article is my counterterrorism effort. That is to say, this is my effort to open our eyes to various ways we can drift from the sufficiency of Scripture. By “the sufficiency of Scripture” I mean the conviction that everything God thought we needed to know he put down in the Bible. As such, the... Continue Reading

Now my big idea is everywhere. It shows up especially in the talking points about trans rights, and policy regarding trans athletes in sports. It is being written into laws that essentially threaten repercussions for anyone who suggests that sex might be a biological reality. Such a statement, for many activists, is tantamount to hate speech. If you take... Continue Reading