Cosmic, consummative worldwide peace is entirely dependent on Jesus’ death on the cross. The effects of creaturely reconciliation are felt for all of eternity on account of His saving works. The vertical reconciliation of fallen men to God is foundational to the horizontal reconciliation of man to man. The former necessarily accomplishes and secures the... Continue Reading

One day a young man came to the door. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but your son gave his life for me. I know I’m not a great artist, but I painted this for you.” The father opened the package. The portrait, although not brilliant, captured the personality of his son perfectly. He hung... Continue Reading

God’s going to use you in all of your differences. What is most lacking in this Christian world is not the need for more extroverts, but the need for more discernment. We need the people who are quietly listening and praying as other people are talking, discerning about things.   How Introverts Fuel Introverts tend... Continue Reading

I was struck by how often Schaeffer responded to people. He was somewhat of a Christian household name at this time in his ministry (although I doubt he would have liked for me to call him that) and still took the time to write thoughtful letters to hard questions often to people he barely even... Continue Reading

Sin is transgression against the infinite and Eternal God and therefore each and every sin deserves infinite and eternal punishment. The writer of Hebrews captures this principle when he writes that according to the Law of God, “every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution” (Heb. 2:2).    I was intrigued to read the results... Continue Reading

The Enlightenment was marked fundamentally by two beliefs: (1) a belief that people were seeing things that others in darker times hadn’t seen before and (2) a corresponding conviction that improvements were being made in art, science, philosophy, and in life in general. Beyond those amorphous, but important, characteristics, the Enlightenment could be a free-for-all... Continue Reading

The day-to-day reality for the vast majority of God’s people does not include supernatural events. This is where the books of Ezra-Nehemiah (presented as one book in the oldest manuscripts) and Esther can actually provide tremendous help and encouragement. One of the things that distinguishes them from most other Old Testament narratives is the lack of... Continue Reading

Most people today have this vague belief that as long as they are “good” people who do good works and are sincere that these efforts will earn them a place in Heaven. The notion that we can save ourselves, referred to by theologians as autosoterism, may be popular but it is foreign to the Bible. Scripture... Continue Reading

This was my experience while teaching at Wheaton College and is very different from the environment at Hillsdale College. At Wheaton, the piety encouraged assumptions that all students and faculty were in agreement about Christianity. Yes, we might worship in different communions and congregations, but we were all essentially one in Christ.   Call me... Continue Reading

From the 1960s until the present day, the debate over evolution in the U.S. has been fought primarily in school boardrooms and courtrooms. This has greatly affected many contemporary Christian responses to science in general and evolution in particular. The Intelligent Design (or ID) movement grew out of these controversies as a new response to... Continue Reading