If we ourselves do not know the once-for-all pardon for sin and the acceptance we have with God on the basis of Christ’s judicial satisfaction and his righteousness imputed to us in salvation, then all the ‘bread’ in the world will be worthless to us. There is no life apart from God. Only in union... Continue Reading

Celebrities and Twitterverse Titans define acceptable thought and behavior, and others thoughtlessly follow. Therefore, we need good intellectual defenses, ones that keep us from eating intellectual junk food. To a similar end, Chesterton writes, “Philosophy is merely thought that has been thought out,” and he allows: “It is often a great bore.” But then again,... Continue Reading

the reason you don’t hear much about the worship wars is that one side has won. It may not be a total victory, but one side is clearly winning while the other is cowering in a back pew hoping a pack of millennials doesn’t make them wave their arms in the air and sing whatever... Continue Reading

It is a mistake to treat a passage as if it stands alone, isolated from the rest of Scripture. Rather, every passage fits somewhere within a great narrative that takes us from creation to consummation, from the past and too-short glories of Eden to the future and eternal glories of paradise. We haven’t understood it... Continue Reading

Persecution is coming. Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. And we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t think that persecution will come here. For some, like the Christian professor who was fired for challenging students’ liberal beliefs about sexuality and marriage, it already has. Fortunately, that professor, Eric Thompson, was reinstated after an arbitrator ruled in... Continue Reading

If the events that the Old Testament narrates really did happen in time and space as it records, then we see a God who exists independent of man’s imaginings, who acted on his own initiative and according to his own plan, who is, in fact, real! That is something that is relevant to all people... Continue Reading

In John 15:1, Jesus spoke his seventh and final “I Am” (εγω ειμι): a self-identification of all that he is and all that he came to do as the true Israel of God. In saying “I am the true vine,” Christ drew from Old Testament language concerning the old covenant people of God.   Of... Continue Reading

One’s victim status is not only the top new currency; it’s also the robe that imputes an impeccable righteousness to its wearer. We are promised: Don this seamless garment, and you’ll be ordained into the cultural priesthood. Arrayed in this technicolor dreamcoat, you’re sure to see your father, mother, brothers, and even the sun, moon, and... Continue Reading

Not only is this an ill-quoted text, but it is also a problematic path to tread, both within and without the evangelical enclosure. If Paul’s statement is as conversation-stopping as appears to be claimed, if meaningful discussion must end at this point, then Christianity has given away more than it imagines. If Paul is positing... Continue Reading

After Yahweh Elohim spoke into nothing and out of nothing and created all that is (see Genesis 1–2) all we creatures were in a culture. The garden was a culture. It was a small society but it was a culture. After the fall we were all in various fallen cultures. Genesis chapters 4–11 chronicle for... Continue Reading