True Love: A Funeral Sermon for a Friend
Death does not stop God’s love for those who are in Christ Jesus
“Death fills us with tremendous sorrow and grief. And rightfully so, because death is our enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). We may try and convince ourselves that death is natural or just the way things are. But we know better, don’t we? The grief and sorrow tell us that this is not the way it is... Continue Reading
Are Claims of Supernatural Experience Really That Harmful?
In churches where these claims are celebrated, more people jump on the bandwagon
“When a person claims an experience—especially if they want me to act on it—they expect me to trust them, their honesty, their infallibility. This is an unreasonable expectation, which demands authentication. That’s why Jesus enabled his apostles to do miracles; their supernatural power provided credibility when they made claims of supernatural authority.” Previously I... Continue Reading
Be Content with What You Have
The seed of unnecessary fear in the heart of a Christian is forgetfulness — an inability to remember and trust what the God of the universe has said and done.
No one has ever had any grounds to accuse God of not following through on his word. Not even one phrase in any sentence in any statement he has ever made has failed (Joshua 21:45). We will only be truly content with what we have when we know that we have him. And we will... Continue Reading
The Theater of Glory
The signature of God’s creative genius is openly manifest from the Milky Way to the millipede.
Those who deny the existence of God on the basis of insufficient evidence should stop and look around. The fingerprints of God are everywhere. Only a fool denies it (see Ps. 14:1). Creation leaves mankind without excuse. In addition to holding mankind accountable, God’s creation stirs up wonder, love, and praise in the hearts of... Continue Reading
Clarifying Scripture’s Perspicuity: A Look at the New Testament
Jesus believed Scripture could be understood and that any misunderstanding on the part of the listener was not due to Scripture’s obscurity, but on some spiritual defect in the person or group.
Common to Jesus’s interaction with the religious leaders was his rebuke, “Have you not read?” (Mt 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31; Mk 12:10, 26). The effect of Jesus’ question is grounded in the understandability of Scripture. The New Testament attests to its own perspicuity, even in passages thought of as more difficult to interpret, like Matthew... Continue Reading
Transformed Somethin’…
God expects all of us, men and women alike, to use our talents for the kingdom of God, whatever those talents might be (Matthew 25).
I would like to remind you all that neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor any of the apostles thought that women couldn’t go to college or have a career. Very briefly, with little comment, here are some women who were educated beyond high school. It’s almost as if they are image bearers of God, and have... Continue Reading
Don’t Despise the Lord’s Discipline
The conversations I have with my children about rules and consequences, discipline and authority, often highlight for me my own heart and my own response to the way God works in my life.
In truth, I find myself resistant to God’s training and discipline. I find myself saying what my kids often say, “It’s not fair.” When hardships, trials, disappointments, and challenges come my way, I see them as things to avoid or resist or to find my way around. Other times, I look at hardships and challenges in my... Continue Reading
Justification and the Literary Imagination
I propose to use the doctrine of justification as a test case of what I like to call the theological imagination--not the theological intellect but the theological imagination.
On the surface, justification might seem to be so thoroughly abstract that it resists being imaged forth. After all, when we consult the article on justification in Dictionary of Biblical Imagery we are startled to be told, “See Romans, Letter to the.” But it turns out that the theological imagination has done splendidly with the doctrine of... Continue Reading
The Making of a Heretic
Heresy is "Any teaching that directly contradicts the clear and direct witness of the Scriptures on a point of salvific importance."
While there have been historical events in Christian history to remind us of the dangers of heresy-hunting, very few Christians today realize the debt they owe to those who had the courage of their convictions to call heresy by its proper name, in spite of the repercussions. Witch trials in Salem. The Council of... Continue Reading
Life Under The Son
Ecclesiastes teaches us that lasting significance cannot be found in our earthly work alone under the sun; but that it can only be found in the Son.
In Christ, there is newness of life, a new creation, and we live and toil under the sun while we look for the New Heavens and New Earth. All those who are united to the Son by faith are made new creatures in Christ. The Apostle Paul summed this up when he said, “If anyone... Continue Reading