The 4 Gods of the Public Education System
In his book The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School, former NYU professor Neil Postman names the four “gods” that he believes America’s children are being taught to worship within the walls of today’s public schools.
In my experience, the typical man of today does not question the validity of at least three of these gods, and more often than not, willingly accepts all four. These gods have become axioms of modern education—which, by the way, significantly diverge from the educational philosophy that prevailed in the West for over 2,000 years—and... Continue Reading
Overcoming The Stain of Racism
"We’ve inherited the systems stained by racism because of racialization, even as our hearts are genuinely transformed by the gospel."
“Dr. Mohler preached through Genesis 11 during one of our chapels, and what he said in that message verbatim was we have a ‘stain of racism.’ So, following the chapel service in our faculty meeting, there were some other discussions about it, and I just felt this unrest: ‘Yeah, we know the stain is there,... Continue Reading
How Then Should We Preach?
Preachers must preach Christ in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
We need the Holy Spirit in order to make preaching effective. We should pray for the Spirit’s blessing on the preaching and the hearing of the gospel. Preachers must cull from their sermons everything that does not pertain to the Spirit’s power in preaching. Rhetoric in preaching is a means of making preaching an effective... Continue Reading
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.”
For the world, grieving sin is regressive and constricting; for the Christian, it is the pathway to joy. Imagine the implications. If Matthew 5:4 is true—if Jesus really meets repentance with comfort, not condemnation—then no longer do you need to fear being exposed. No longer do you have to present an airbrushed version of yourself to fellow... Continue Reading
Beyond Hymnals and Screens
Allow me to introduce the following questions for reflection.
What is the purpose of singing in corporate worship? It is to express truth, reach emotions, or instruct? Is it to get people ready for the sermon? Is it an entryway for people to get comfortable who would otherwise be uneasy in church? Is the singing for the benefit of God or the congregation or... Continue Reading
Three Old and New Errors on the Atonement
“We must acquire, as much as lies in us, sharply defined ideas on the atonement from the gospels themselves.”
“In all true progress in spiritual knowledge, men will make advances in the knowledge of His atonement as well as of His person. The history of the disciples before and after His crucifixion is a proof of this. The more fully we enter into Christ’s truly human experience, and trace His checkered course of joy... Continue Reading
Are You a Faithful Servant of God?
One of the most prolific metaphors is that of God as master and his people as servants.
A servant is at the beck and call of his master. A servant is not free to do what he wants when he wants to do it, but must always do the will of his master. The Christian willingly puts himself at God’s disposal instead of his own. He longs to do God’s will, no... Continue Reading
God Blesses Messy People
People in the Bible, like the rest of the world, are a bit of a mess.
Does this surprise you? It should. If you or I were writing the Bible, we would probably do it in such a way to show the virtues of the people. But this is not what God does. Does this encourage you? It should. God is not about showcasing people’s morality but rather his mercy and faithfulness... Continue Reading
Cambodia’s Child Sex Industry Is Dwindling—And They Have Christians to Thank
From rescues to legal reform, a faithful minority changed the country’s criminal landscape.
Excited, disgusted, and afraid of being found out during his capital city spying, Sek Saroeun repeated Romans 12:12 to himself: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Over time, “fear led to longing; longing led to transformation that is unimaginable,” he told colleagues at an IJM conference a decade later, explaining how... Continue Reading
Has the Gospel-Centered Pendulum Swung Too Far?
The relatively recent popularity of biblical theology and of “gospel-centeredness” are part of a pendulum swing.
I think the swing has done great good: American Christianity has indeed suffered under man-centered readings of the Bible which offer all law and no gospel, all duty and no delight, all rules and no relationship. And yet the ease with which I just tossed off those three slogans points to the pendulum problem: any... Continue Reading
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