The Sword of the Lord
The Word of God is too sacred a thing, and preaching too solemn a work, to be toyed and played with.
Genuine Christianity is not simply a religion where men can make claims and change truths that are not backed up completely from God’s Word. Those who are truly God’s are accompanied by power and that power is found in God’s Word through the working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Therefore, those who preach... Continue Reading
Why We Should Root Our Theology in Church History
Let's learn theology in community—not just local, and not just present.
Let’s learn and study theology in community with believers past as well as our current churches and present-day resources. We aren’t individual people running a race to eternal life; we’re a singular body seeking to carry one another to the finish line by the sustaining grace of God. Though some believers are already worshiping in... Continue Reading
Do Not Be Anxious
We must take to heart Jesus’ words to trust Him and live our lives here and now with our treasure in Heaven.
In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus tells us in His Sermon on the Mount that the way to salvation is not easy nor is it easy to find. In fact, the religious way that is made easy leads to destruction. Those who are saved are those who find the narrow gate that is hard to enter because... Continue Reading
Thoughts on Empathy and the Love of God
Empathy points to something that only originates in God: love.
Empathy can be exhausting; caring endlessly about the feelings of others can leave us feeling drained and swallowed up. The only way our culture can counteract these concerns about empathy is to talk about boundaries, and the need to know how to have appropriate ones with others. This value of empathy has no foundation of its... Continue Reading
Psalm 42-43: I have Confidence in…
Are you downcast today? Take heart! Your redeemer lives.
I thought of the song “I Have Confidence,” from The Sound of Music, where Julie Andrews declares: “I have confidence in confidence alone; besides which you see I have confidence in me!” In the comment section of the YouTube video, someone wrote, “I sing this when I’m having a bad day.” But this is not the... Continue Reading
The Captor Listens to the Captive
May we see our desperate estate of sin and misery and listen to the one the world despised, rejected, and killed, even Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead.
In Jesus’s day Israel sent the lepers away; no one would go near them. They were unclean and could not be helped. The lepers knew their time was short and they would soon perish in misery. So when Jesus came preaching repentance and the kingdom of God with great power and healing, the lepers put... Continue Reading
The Still More Glorious Day
The cross was not the defeat it had seemed to be. Rather it was a defiant, emphatic, all-powerful victory.
The day Jesus rose, he planted an invincible, unshakable flag of hope over the grave. How could anything ever surpass his victory? Only he could author a more glorious day, and he has, a day that is coming soon. “The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed”... Continue Reading
What Does It Mean to Be a Man in the Home?
In keeping with God’s original design, as restored in the Lord Jesus Christ, a true man, as rooted in his essential, Godgiven identity, will reflect characteristics of his design.
Men may feel under great pressure at times as providers and leaders. Without God, living out all their roles adequately, or even with excellence, is virtually impossible. It’s a high calling to be ultimately held accountable for all that occurs in their family (and in the case of elders, the church). It is at this... Continue Reading
Tending the Vine
The Father will purge those who are not united to Christ by the Holy Spirit and will prune those who are united to Christ in their effectual calling.
Jesus says that every branch aligned with Him that does not bear fruit, His Father the vinedresser will remove. When Jesus says the Father takes away a branch, he is not speaking of someone losing salvation because they were slacking in their efforts at obedience. Rather, fruitlessness betrays lifelessness. The vine and branches is a metaphor... Continue Reading
Responding to Craig’s Proposals On The Eternal Generation Of The Son
Craig concludes his paper with a restatement of his thesis that the doctrine of eternal generation should be replaced with a model of social trinitarianism.
Craig’s claim that eternal generation should be rejected on exegetical, historical/philosophical, and theological grounds is itself open to challenge and debate. Furthermore, the alternative of social trinitarianism creates more problems than it solves. In the end, the Nicene doctrine of eternal generation should not be quickly abandoned by Christians. Properly understood, it most faithfully reflects... Continue Reading