God Never Forgets His Promises
In the words of the Westminster Confession, God in His providence “upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures, actions and things” to bring about a sovereignly pre-determined plan (5.1).
Providence has wider issues in mind than merely our personal comfort or gain. In answer to the oft-cited question in times of difficulty, “Why me?” the forthcoming answer is always, “Them!” He allows us to suffer so that others may be blessed. Joseph suffered in order that his undeserving brothers might receive blessing. The... Continue Reading
Christians Should Say “No” to Revoice’s “Vocation of Yes”
The Revoice conference would clearly not have proceeded as it did if all the speakers shared a firm understanding that same-sex orientation is, in fact, disordered.
Last week, Hill wrote a report on the conference for First Things entitled “Revoice And a Vocation of Yes.” Before Hill wrote this piece, he and other Revoice organizers had already engaged in extended written back-and-forth with conservative thinkers like Al Mohler, Denny Burk, and Robert Gagnon. I would like to offer three more thoughts of my... Continue Reading
The Lost Art of Hospitality
Perhaps you never thought about it, but hospitality is the key to so many areas of the Christian life.
As I think about the practice of hospitality, I see it as being one of the greatest tools that God can use in our personal sanctification. I’ve also seen how it can be an incredible tool God uses in the lives of our children and their walks with Christ. There are four areas that I’d... Continue Reading
Social Injustice and the Gospel
As believers, “we know . . . that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), so worldly power structures are—and always have been—systemically unjust to one degree or another.
The evangelicals who are saying the most and talking the loudest these days about what’s referred to as “social justice” seem to have a very different perspective. Their rhetoric certainly points a different direction, demanding repentance and reparations from one ethnic group for the sins of its ancestors against another. It’s the language of law,... Continue Reading
Living Under Authority
How does my obedience to my professors, my boss, or the government in any way benefit Christ?
We’re bondservants to God. We’re slaves of Jesus Christ. So, even if the rest of the world is running on the track of anti-authority and anti-submissiveness, we aren’t allowed to join in. We’re called to be scrupulous to maintain order. There is such a thing as law and order that God Himself has ordained in... Continue Reading
Why It’s Destructive to Deny God’s Sovereignty in Suffering
If God is limited in the bad things, that means God is limited in his ability to heal and redeem you.
For me, one of the most comforting things in surviving and recovering from the death of my child was knowing that God was completely and fully in control in his death. Before he created the world, my God had marked the number of days that my son would live. Getting God Off the Hook?... Continue Reading
Predestination Is Biblical, Beautiful, and Practical
Disputed and disdained though it may be, predestination and its sibling, election, are plainly taught in Scripture, and every exegete must make peace with it.
Many evangelicals—including pastors—see the doctrine as best left alone, forbidden theological fruit, fraught with speculation. It’s just not practical, they argue. It’s a debate for seminary classes with no real bearing on the full-court press of everyday life. In some churches, it is a word that conjures up images of an angry and capricious... Continue Reading
Why I Don’t Prefer the Phrase “Criteria of Canonicity”
Typically things like apostolicity, orthodoxy, usage, age, etc. are the criteria by which books are evaluated to determine their Biblical canonicity.
The term “criteria” gives the impression that someone is standing over canonical books, judging them by some external standard not found in the canonical books themselves. It can imply that there is some neutral investigative starting place where we can use scientific criteria to evaluate books. If a person asks how we know which books belong... Continue Reading
The Holy Spirit’s Ministry
The Reformers placed tremendous stress on the gifts of the Spirit to the whole body of Christ
Perhaps the most important common thread is the Spirit’s ministry in illumination—He enlightens our minds to enable us to know, see, grasp, and apply the will and purposes of God. There was an immediacy to illumination in the temporary gifts. The Spirit taught the apostles “all things” (John 14:26) and led them into “all truth”... Continue Reading
The Redemptive-Historical End Zone Verse
Legion have been the proposed explanations of John 3:16 – what some call, “the end-zone verse”
“Many, in reaction to those who espouse an Arminian reading of John 3:16, have suggested that John only has the elect in view. The logic runs thus: If Jesus only died for the elect, then it is only the elect God loves. Therefore, since John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that he gave... Continue Reading