Why Calls for Discipleship Make us Feel so Guilty
The weakness of Protestantism on the subject of personal discipleship in an affluent culture has laid groundwork where the logic of the prosperity gospel rarely bumps into anything that seems to be at cross-purposes with being a disciple of Jesus.
The Christian who feels manipulated or guilt-tripped when the simple ethics of having Jesus as Lord appear anywhere near where his definition of “normal and entitled lifestyle” has taken root. Discipleship, now relegated to discussions around a class or small group, becomes about not being legalistic, pious, or pharisaical. The actual processes and content of discipleship... Continue Reading
Godfrey on Shepherd In 1978
"Justification is an act of God by which He forgives sinners acquitting them of their guilt, accounts and accepts them as righteous, and bestows upon them the title to eternal life."
This seems to me a strangely and fundamentally defective statement of the doctrine of justification, in that three elements that are always to be found in the confessional standards’ statements about justification are not to be found there. First, there is no reference to our Lord, or a clear statement that it is His righteousness... Continue Reading
Born this Way?
Suggesting that we were “born this way” with certain desires, and so we should be accepted as is, is – quite frankly – an argument of pure selfish pride.
Humans are born with plenty of desires that we must be taught to suppress or eliminate, like the desire to take whatever we want and have all the toys. Humans have “natural” desires for satisfying all kinds of outrageous lusts of the flesh, sexual and otherwise, and some downright deviant like pedophilia. We are born... Continue Reading
Raise Your Song in the Night
“At night his song is with me” (Psalm 42:8).
Christians sing not only at sunrise, when rescue has finally rushed over the horizon. They also sing at midnight, when the blackness makes the sun seem burnt out. And often, God uses our midnight songs to keep us till the morning. Christians are the sort of people who sing at midnight. When Paul and... Continue Reading
We Need to Regain and Teach an Understanding of the Physical Nature of the Resurrection
If we don’t get the resurrection of the body right, we’ll get nothing else right concerning our eternal future.
Ironically, there are believers who would die rather than deny the resurrection, yet they actually don’t understand or believe what the doctrine of the resurrection means! Despite the centrality of the resurrection in Scripture and church history, many of them have never been clearly taught its meaning, so they imagine they’ll live forever in a... Continue Reading
What Is the Bible, Anyway?
The Bible guides us to its purpose and power through the many metaphors it uses to describe itself.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but... Continue Reading
Every Good Parent Will Have Regrets
Advice to My 30-Year-Old Self
Once, a man told me about a parenting event titled “No Regrets.” I assumed it was an event organized by parents of newborns. The parent with no regrets, after all, probably needs to think a little deeper. If you have no regrets in parenting, just ask your kids. What would I tell my younger... Continue Reading
The Assurance of Faith
People ask God to give them an experience which will confirm their faith, which will give them power, which will make them bold, which will, as some say, release the Spirit's energy into the world.
Today, through the impact of postmodernity, there is a new focus. It’s not as though the intellectual problems have disappeared or that the problems of guilt and sin have gone away. But the focus has shifted, and Christians now sense that they are weak, vulnerable, and powerless. They are being asked to hold on to... Continue Reading
What Does it Mean to be a Christian, Really?
It is easy to make up your own version of what it means to be a Christian that is not grounded in what Jesus really calls people to be.
The term “Christian” was first applied to followers of Jesus in Antioch. Before that, followers of Jesus were called disciples. Today, the term Christian is more predominantly used than disciple, but in the New Testament the two terms were synonymous. The New Testament story tells us that disciples were people who were called by Jesus... Continue Reading
Spokesmen for God
Prophetic ministry sought to soften hardened hearts and reclaim seared consciences by urging a return to the old paths.
When in an act of sovereign grace the Lord instituted His covenant with Israel, it was indisputable that He was the senior partner in the relationship. He alone had the right to dictate the terms on which fellowship with Him could be maintained. Consequently, if the people failed to adhere to His laws and commandments,... Continue Reading