Five Minutes for the Imago Dei
Christ said words matter (Matthew 12:36), so we should be intentional when we speak – especially in disagreement.
I listened to a fascinating book this year by Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities in the Honors Program Professor at Baylor University. The book, How to Think: A Survival Guide to a World at Odds, details the way we think or, more accurately, the way we don’t. Early in the book he relays... Continue Reading
How Discernment Is like Thrifting
Because we can’t custom order our lives, we must become people who can spot goodness wherever and whenever we encounter it.
I suppose the eclectic nature of thrift stores could be unsettling, even disorienting, for some people. After all, there’s no predictable supply, no reliable order, no telling what you’ll find or even what you’re looking at. Here, you might find a cut glass candy dish that looks exactly like the one your grandmother had, or... Continue Reading
The Good Samaritan
What made him a Good Samaritan is that he helped someone that wasn’t easy to help.
Jesus shared the parable of the Good Samaritan in response to a Lawyer’s attempt to limit his responsibility to love all of his neighbours as himself. Jesus started the parable by explaining that a Jewish man was attacked and robbed as he traveled from Jerusalem to Jericho. The robbers took all of his belongings and... Continue Reading
Eternal Functional Subordination…Continued
The Son is not objectively, eternally, subordinated to the Father.
Though Jesus was everlastingly God, equal in worth and power and dignity to the Father, He did not consider that equality something to be clung to greedily, but He veiled His glorious attributes and took on tangible, actual servant-hood at a particular point in time, namely when He became a human. God did not cease to... Continue Reading
Why is the OT Sacrificial System so Bloody?
The OT sacrificial system is a constant reminder that we are not, in fact, “all right.”
There’s blood everywhere! Why? It seems so barbaric to us, so primitive and backwards. For the author of Hebrews, however, the bloodiness of the OT form of worship speaks volumes. It tells us something about ourselves that we don’t like to think about. Our world is constantly trying to convince us that “Baby, you’re a... Continue Reading
Satan Will Not Leave You Alone
Living in a World Filled with Devils
The devil is the father of lies (John 8:44) and the deceiver of nations (Revelation 20:3, 8). He “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), and he will do whatever is in his power to get us to forget him altogether and to live as if he doesn’t exist. As believers, we know... Continue Reading
3 Reasons Definite Atonement is Basic to Biblical Missions
When it comes to the doctrine of definite (or limited) atonement, there is a real, driving temptation to hedge one’s bets or drown one’s commitment to the doctrine in a sea of ambiguity.
Men like William Carey and Andrew Fuller, and more modern writers like J.I. Packer in his Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, have demonstrated repeatedly that the Reformed emphasis on particular redemption is the sweet companion of the missionary endeavor and not its antagonist. But in our day and age, for some observers, another sticky question... Continue Reading
Context Matters: God Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart
If we desire God, he will give us our desires, which must include him!
The first two verses of the psalm are an exhortation not to be envious of the wicked, “for they will soon fade like the grass.” Then verses 2–6 exhibit a pattern, as the reader is urged to love the Lord in various ways and he promises to respond and act. The parallel structure of these... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (20): God Unconditionally Saves Those Who Are Totally Unable To Save Themselves
Those who reject the orthodox Reformed view of common grace end up not far from the Remonstrants whom they oppose so strongly inasmuch as both fail to distinguish between nature (creation) and grace (salvation).
The Remonstrants rejected the Augustinian/Reformed view of the consequences of the fall. For the Remonstrants, denied that original sin, of itself, is sufficient to condemn humanity. We might call them semi-Pelagian, insofar as they formally conceded that we fell into sin with Adam but Synod called them Pelagians repeatedly, in part, because they downplayed the effects of... Continue Reading
Hanging in There – or Hanging onto Christ?
We don’t represent ourselves; through Christ’s obedience we are made righteous and kept secure.
While a cute kitty might make a good poster, and the story of the hang gliding man with the good grip might make for a good video to watch, many people sadly view life this way. We have to “hang in there” or “hang on for dear life.” To those who are struggling, the best... Continue Reading