There are still some things we owe to God, however — not out of debt, but out of gratitude — and one of those things is forgiveness. “Forgive us our debts,” Jesus taught us to pray, “as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12 nkjv). From this petition we learn that we are not the only ones... Continue Reading

Many ministries within the local church fail to thrive or even collapse altogether because the leader of that ministry is an eager doer but reluctant delegator. When there is a difficult situation or when a key person fails to show up, her first instinct is to just do the task herself. This may be a... Continue Reading

Here is your current identity and ultimate destiny if you know Christ truly. It consists in having inscribed on your heart the name of God, of his city, and of his Son! There is, of course, as is the case with virtually all spiritual realities, a sense in which this is already true of us... Continue Reading

The background to David’s composition was one of extreme conflict as recorded in 1Samuel 21.10-15. Calvin in his commentary on the Psalms describes it as his being ‘caught between two packs of wolves’ – ‘the Philistines who hated him and the Jews who persecuted him.’ And, given the nature of the conflict in which Martin Luther... Continue Reading

The authors’ thought-provoking essays, presented in a point-counterpoint format, broadly address religious liberty, tolerance, and discrimination, providing a valuable framework from which to assess public policy as it relates to these questions in the context of intimate matters including marriage, sex, and child rearing.   In a new book, three scholars make the argument that a... Continue Reading

Not long after my conversion, people often asked me to reach out to their own children who were living prodigal lifestyles. I started to realize a few things as I brought the gospel to young adults strung out on pharmaceuticals, cocaine, acid, crack, meth, and MDMA. First, I realized how true my Calvinistic beliefs really were (unless the Lord—in... Continue Reading

In 2000, when Robinson wrote about Psalm 49 in CT, he referred to death as a grim shepherd. “For the believer in Jesus Christ, for the righteous person, we do not go out into death and into darkness,” he concluded. “Instead, we go home to God.”   Haddon Robinson, the respected author and seminary president who set... Continue Reading

I had accidentally enrolled in queer theories, and was apparently the only straight person in the room. Yes, that really happened. At first, I laughed at myself because accidentally enrolling in the wrong class is so something I would do. But after really thinking about it, I decided this could be an interesting opportunity, and... Continue Reading

Through my experience in entertainment, God has heightened my sensitivity as I have attempted to lead my family in how we view and enjoy all types of entertainment: from TVshows to movies, from operas to music, from books to Broadway musicals, from bedtime stories to board games.   My maternal grandfather, James Robson Featherstone (1915–1995), was born... Continue Reading

Both the blame and the credit for capitalism have often been placed at the feet not of an economist, but rather a sixteenth-century Christian theologian named John Calvin. Calvin’s belief in predestination and other tenets embraced by aggressive capitalists, is seen as giving the theological justification for a Protestant vision that propelled economic growth in... Continue Reading