Why Christian Movies Are So Terrible
The paint-by-numbers aesthetic of the new wave of Christian movies persists in making the faith appear trite, inauthentic, corny, and -- worst of all, as far as the culture goes -- uncool.
I know, I know — people always try to come up with exceptions. But there aren’t any, really. Every now and again some well-meaning brother or sister will say to me, “This one’s different. You gotta see it. It’s not like the others.” And then it is. It painfully, painfully is. Why does it seem... Continue Reading
The Disease of Ambition
Ahab refuses to bow before God even when God turns his fury on him in Moby Dick.
Ahab is Melville’s picture of mortal greatness in the world, a man defined by ambition that only he and God seem to know. This is precisely how Melville introduces Ahab. The first we hear about him is from Peleg, a Nantucket Quaker, former whaling captain himself, and now, along with Bildad, majority owner of the... Continue Reading
Why the Church Needs to Pray the Imprecatory Psalms
Jesus' command to love and pray for our enemies does not serve as a "trump card" over all the prayers of imprecation in the Bible.
“Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, ‘Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!’ O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes... Continue Reading
The Strongest Men Are Gentle
Gentleness is the life-giving exercise of strength.
Power in its various forms is a good gift from God, to be used by his people for the ends of his kingdom. And like other good gifts, power is perilous when wielded improperly. The answer to the dangers of strength is not its loss, but the gaining of a Christian virtue called gentleness. One... Continue Reading
Like an Angel: The Shining Face of Stephen
“And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).
The alteration of Stephen’s face was an act of God to make it shine. The purpose for doing so seems to be along the lines of what took place with Moses—just as the shining of Moses’ face indicated to Israel that Moses spoke on behalf of God because he spoke directly to Him, so also the shining of... Continue Reading
Ecclesial Theology
A division between ecclesial theology and academic theology has emerged.
From where I sit, academic theology is theology written to the wider academic community, set within an academic context, and driven by academic concerns and presuppositions. Ecclesial theology, on the other hand, is theological reflection written to the believing community, for the good of the church catholic, and born out of pastoral/ecclesial concerns. Throughout... Continue Reading
What Is the Opposite of Homosexuality?
Why Marriage Is Not My Mission
Two men, two pursuits, two paths. Bill wanted to marry but remains single today. Mark was single and content, but now he’s married to Andrea. Often God’s path is not what we expect or once even wanted. For some, it’s singleness; for others, it’s marriage. Yet the goal for all — single or married, same-sex... Continue Reading
Hell: How Long?
“How bad can anything that we do in this life really be to require that Hell go on forever?”
The longevity of Hell, that eternity of torment, has not so much to do really with us, in the greatness of ourselves as human being, but it has everything to do with the grand holiness of the personal, Triune God against whom we have performed that sin. And any sin unatoned for by the perfect... Continue Reading
How Singing Forms Us
There is a reason that we sing that I believe is often forgotten, overlooked, or ignored, and we see it in Psalm 96 as well.
I want you to notice a couple additional aspects of the development of thought through this psalm. The first is related to what we just explored. The psalm progresses from God’s people singing among the nations in the first stanza to all the families of the earth ascribing him glory in the second stanza. Is... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (18): It Was God’s Sovereign Will To Accomplish Complete Salvation For All The Elect
The churches confessed what God intended and what Christ accomplished for and what the Spirit applies to the elect.
As we have surveyed the decisions (Canons) of the Synod of Dort in their historical (social, political) and theological contexts, reading the Canons in light of the Remonstrance in 1610 and the Opinions of the Remonstrance given to Synod in 1618, it has become increasingly clear that there is no tenable position between the Remonstrants... Continue Reading