“The practice of displaying an American flag in church sanctuaries seems to be wide-spread and for the most part, completely unchallenged by the average church member. As one who studies the intersection of faith and culture, I have found over time that culture has a way of creeping into our faith slowly and undetected. As... Continue Reading

“Systematic Theology, by contrast with Biblical Theology, approaches the Bible as a completed divine revelation, taking account of all that has been said and carefully noting what has been superseded and what is ‘truth unchanged, unchanging’. This means that Systematic Theology gratefully accepts and assimilates all that Biblical Theology has to offer. But it also... Continue Reading

“This may sound like theological hair-splitting, but actually it is tied in with one of the most vexed issues of Christian experience that goes back to the earliest days of the New Testament church and further back still. Because that is so, we are reminded that every pastoral problem has theological dimensions and every theological... Continue Reading

“The Bible tells us explicitly and shows us implicitly that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. David knows this to be true. As broken as he is, he knows God and how God relates to penitent people. He understands that God never hates or despises a broken and contrite heart. This... Continue Reading

“Sociology can tell us where we are, but it can only make best guesses as to where we are going. Sociological conclusions are true until they are not (think the previous theory of secularization). History is too full of remarkable and unanticipated turns of event for us not to enter into this discourse with a... Continue Reading

“Pastors can be tempted to shift into neutral when the church doesn’t appear to be doing well. There are many ways a pastor can look like he is busy while accomplishing absolutely nothing. The fire is gone, and he just clocks time to get a paycheck. Pastor, fight this temptation with every fiber of your being... Continue Reading

“No longer are we to offer sacrifices as required under the Old Covenant of Grace, but we are to keep the “Law of the Temple.” Regularly, we are to gather around Christ and recognize his free mercy and grace. In response, we are to regularly express our faith, repentance, godly sorrow, and trust in his atoning... Continue Reading

“Because God loves his enemies, God sent his Son to rescue messed up people like me from the misery of our sin and the punishment that our sin deserves. I deserved to be taken out, but Jesus died for me — in my place. And God did it because he loves me (Rom. 5:6-8).”  ... Continue Reading

“If we spent less time on our feet and more time on our knees; and if we spent less time talking with men and more time talking with God; and if we spent less time caring about our neighbors thoughts and more time meditating in prayer on God’s Word, we would be more holy, consistent, and... Continue Reading

“To the average listener at the time of Jesus, the Pharisee was an example of the best, the most religious of men. Is Jesus here demanding that we must rate higher than them to go to kingdom of heaven? No, it is not as if Jesus is saying that on a test out of 100,... Continue Reading