Feminism is a woman-centered worldview that does not honor God because it champions woman’s autonomous self-definition. Eve tried that. It failed miserably. The grace-filled biblical story of redemption not only provides forgiveness for every woman who places her faith in Christ, it also puts womanhood at its center as the paradigm for what it means... Continue Reading

Keller argues, in essence, that the problem with so-called “evangelical Trump voters” is that they don’t know enough theology.  This, it seems to me, is yet another example of the sort of disembodied-brains-on-sticks argument for which Reformed types, with their cerebral bent, have an embarrassing weakness. It’s kind of like the old Neo-Calvinist argument that... Continue Reading

We have been dealing with what we now know as the self-named Federal Vision theology for a long time now. When we consider that the same set of questions has arisen regularly since the early 16th century, we realize that we have always had this problem with us and it shall likely always plague us.... Continue Reading

Abortion was not always a major concern of evangelical denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention before the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade (1973), notes Lewis. In fact, at that time Roe was decided, the Southern Baptist Convention formally favored abortion rights. Until the late 1970s, intense opposition to legal abortion was predominantly a Catholic position. There... Continue Reading

Spurgeon’s captivating delivery conveyed the message that burned in his heart—the absolute authority and sufficiency of the Bible, the omnipotence of a loving God, and the life demanded of those who claimed salvation in Jesus Christ. It was a firm foundation of theology, but it didn’t stop Spurgeon from suffering many hardships in his life.... Continue Reading

One of the first financial principles I was taught about pastoring was to keep an eye on the church’s giving patterns. Not because ministry is about money, but because a church’s offering patterns are like the canary in the coal mine. They’ve always been one of the earliest, most accurate barometers of congregational displeasure, dysfunction... Continue Reading

Christians can have Bible anorexia. I attended a women’s Bible study that had a workbook with quite a bit of homework in it. We would do the homework and then meet together to talk about it. One friend told me she was frustrated with the study. My friend replied, “I like coming to Bible study,... Continue Reading

I can see humanity inventing a benevolent god or even a bad god who is easily appeased. But would we invent a holy God? Where does that come from? For there is nothing in the universe more terrifying, more threatening to a person’s sense of security and well-being than the holiness of God. What we... Continue Reading

Starting at the end of the 16th century, however, some of Calvin’s theological descendants, mostly Puritans, took a different approach. They took seriously the Reformation’s emphasis on the plain sense of the Bible and therefore distinguished between promises made to Jewish Israel and those made to the new Gentile Israel.    Is the Reformed tradition... Continue Reading

Jesus’s words are based on Psalm 107:5, 9: “5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. . . . 9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Hunger and thirst are powerful, because they are the expression of a lack of a fundamental need. We need to eat and... Continue Reading