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
The Danger of “I” in Christian Prayer
Jesus is reminding us that when we enter into a relationship with God we enter into a relationship with his people.
To be a Christian is to be a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. By God’s grace we are incorporated into the body of Christ so that our most fundamental spiritual identity is not an “I” but a “we.” This runs against the grain of our fallen state. This also runs against... Continue Reading
We Believe in the Holy Spirit
For thousands of years, the people of God awaited the full revelation of his nature and work, and with it the full personhood of the Spirit.
He is not part of God; he is God. With the coming and ascending of the Son, we now see how God’s eternal Spirit has been at work in our world from the very beginning, hovering over the face of the waters, ready to bring order out of the chaos, acting for centuries on behalf of God’s... Continue Reading
Content to Know Enough
We need to labor to know God's word as accurately as possible; but, in the end, we need to rest content that we will never know it exhaustively.
Young suggested that we must labor to come to a settled position on attempts to reconcile apparent contradictions in Scripture; however, if while doing so, we find that we cannot come to an absolutely certain conclusion about how to reconcile those seeming contradictions, we should rest content in the fact that we know there is... Continue Reading
Beware Theological Dangers on Both Left and Right
In this article I want to briefly consider threats to the gospel—from the left and from the right.
We live in a world, as we see in the political realm, where those who disagree are quickly demonized, where partisan concerns are ramped up. As Christians, we mustn’t follow the same path. We need to be vigilant for the truth and to defend the faith. At the same time, we need to be careful... Continue Reading
Why We Should Adopt Them: Personal Thoughts on Deserted Children
I believe that children with extra needs are children that come with extra blessings, because God will pour out His blessings through the children that you welcome into your hearts.
The story of Xinwei made me wonder how a little woman like her could become the mother of 50 deserted disabled children, as most couldn’t even feed themselves. After three years of reflection, I think I understand better all her concerns. She said that “these children were Jesus” (Matt. 25:40). In other words, you could... Continue Reading
Is the Culture Shaping Your View of God?
Even the Israelites, who had a special relationship with God, neglected His word and took their cues about God from the culture.
You might be thinking, “How is this relevant to me? I’m not sacrificing my children to pagan deities.” We are all prone to imagine a god that is more like our culture—and its gods—than who He truly is. If we’re not careful, the culture will shape our view of God. When we ignore God’s... Continue Reading