Most of Us Disagree With Jesus
The subject? Our pocketbooks. Jesus unashamedly talks about our money.
Those that find the stuff of theology airy, stuffy, boring or irrelevant surely have turned a deaf ear to the master Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. And the problem lies neither with the message nor the Messenger. The problem, as G. K. Chesterton famously put it, is I. Against all such resistance, with unparalleled authority (see Matt. 7:28–29), Jesus... Continue Reading
Debt Is Not a Money Problem
Educating yourself about money is wise, and a budget can be practically helpful, but it cannot be our starting point.
It is both impossible and dangerous to solve personal debt by only talking about money. Like every other issue in our life, debt must be rooted in a distinctly biblical worldview. We must allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to correct our assumptions about debt and shape our spending. Otherwise, we won’t be able to... Continue Reading
The Fatherhood of God
We affirm God’s uniqueness and confess that salvation is found in Jesus alone when we say “our Father.”
In What is Christianity?, Harnack defined the essence of the Christian faith as the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. Harnack’s indebtedness to liberalism, humanism, and universalism is apparent in his book as it denies the exclusivity of Christ. To be true to Scripture, we do affirm the universal Creatorhood of God, for... Continue Reading
What is Encouragement?
In my studies of Scripture, I see four main, overlapping ideas about what encouragement is.
We are designed and created to be vessels ready to receive the strength others can give to us. Everyone you know has very hard work to do. Perhaps it’s related to their vocation or their family or a season of suffering. Regardless, no one really has an easy life. And God has designated you to... Continue Reading
Learning from Example
When I read Jeremiah telling the King exactly what to do to keep Jerusalem from being destroyed by the Babylonians, I wanted to yell "Just do it already!"
King Zedekiah defied what God said through Jeremiah and in the end, he lost his family, his eyes, and lived the remainder of his life in prison (Jeremiah 39). As I read this, I thought to myself, “The king had a prophet of God speaking to him and he still did what he wanted to do.... Continue Reading
The Great Irony of Denying Human Depravity
We all know that people do bad things, but sin isn’t the post-modern answer.
One might debate that a serial killer is genetically predisposed to mass murder, while another theorizes that their inclination to do violence is a corollary of childhood trauma. While this is an interesting conversation it fails to get to the deeper reason of why we’re discussing nature and nurture in the first place. The starting... Continue Reading
Owen and Universal Redemption
The old Gospel's center of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man.
The old Gospel’s center of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man. This is just to say that the old Gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the... Continue Reading
How We Pray for the Nations
We must be resolved to pray earnestly for the nations
“Our aim is to see our church engage in praying specifically for the Lord’s Church in various lands across this vast planet. It is our goal to engage in faithful prayer with our local church and to think honestly about how to go beyond prayer. Can we partner with HeartCry or another group of churches... Continue Reading
Salvation Through Grace Alone (Acts 15:11)
For Peter, grace is the cause of salvation and faith is the instrument of salvation
“We either stand by grace or works but not by grace and works. Both promise salvation but they promise salvation on different terms. The Judaizers proposed to put the Gentiles under the law (represented by circumcision) for salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) on the premise that the law is not so strict that we cannot... Continue Reading
How Christianity Is Different From All Other Religions
Jesus died. This short sentence shows Christianity as unique.
“Jesus, the Christ, the King of the Jews, God who became a man in the womb of the virgin Mary, died one Friday afternoon between two criminals. He had lived obediently to God the Father; worked miracles to demonstrate the power of a coming kingdom; spoke of a day when God would judge the nations;... Continue Reading