“Gratitude does not come easily to me. It should. I live an easy, convenient, first-world life. I have been given innumerable blessings, not the least of which is the gift of salvation. But still, I like to complain.”   Never have I had a quicker opportunity to apply the book I’ve been reading. I read... Continue Reading

“Men who aspire to one of the separticular offices ought not to aspire to having a title in the church, but ought rather to aspire to reflect the only One who is worthy of praise, glory, and honor—Jesus. Such a perspective keeps us from checking the bulletin and annual report to see if our names... Continue Reading

Some don’t want to go all the way with all the five points. For many, the sticking point is limited or definite atonement. Others reject the idea that no believer can ultimately fall away from the faith. But as Steve Lawson points out, “compromising any one of the five points dilutes and diminishes the grace... Continue Reading

“We underestimate just how much cultural cultivation we have to do if we think success is just getting people to say “no” to same-sex marriage. We need the wider narrative of Scripture, and the bigger picture of marriage, if we are going to make sense of Christianity’s vision for family.”   Earlier this week, I... Continue Reading

“Mr. and Mrs. Prosperity Teacher, Scripture calls you to repent of your sin: Your sin of leading astray the sheep, robbing them of their money, and lying to them. Jesus died for the sins of the world; that’s a heavy thing to disregard as secondary to prosperity.”   This past weekend, Christians went crazy online... Continue Reading

The move to allow same-sex marriage in the church should not come as a surprise to observers. In July, the church decided it was time to pursue equal rights for homosexual pastors. The church had been contemplating the change since 2007, when it opened its doors to openly homosexual members and refused to exercise church discipline... Continue Reading

“Last Thursday, October 1, the killing of eight students and their professor at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon added some names to the small but growing roll of American Christian martyrs, regardless of what some detractors who have been scrounging for evidence that this is not true now say.”   I am well acquainted... Continue Reading

“Many modern songs are scatty, cloying, fluffy, incoherent, repetitive, flighty, bumbling, empty, careless, shallow, heretical, repetitive, nauseating, anaemic or repetitive. The fact that they nevertheless make their way into our times of corporate worship is not primarily the fault of the songwriters.”   I’m a huge fan of contemporary worship music. I don’t even apologise... Continue Reading

“To believe in a future, endless, and human-populated heaven means Christians will think about that heaven by examining the resurrected body of Jesus. It means heaven will be an embodied existence and not just a spirit-y or soul-y kind of ethereal, spiritual existence.”   1. If there is a just God, there must be a heaven.... Continue Reading

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, said his proposal (HB 43) is an “extra layer of protection” intended to assure that clergy do not have to perform same-sex marriages if they violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions.   Church and state collided Wednesday in a Capitol hearing room crowded with dozens of clergy members as a... Continue Reading