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
How The Ancients Heard Resurrection: A Reply to David Bentley Hart
Ancient Christian readers and interpreters of Paul did not share David Bentley Hart’s understanding
Hart leaves us to wonder how he himself is able to “listen with antique ears” and to divine what the interpretive minds of Paul’s contemporaries “would have” understood. He provides no evidence for it. Missing is any exploration of “the implications, physical and metaphysical, that such words had in the age of the early church.”... Continue Reading
What Christians Should Think About the Refugee Crisis and Terrorism
According to Paul, the reason God orchestrates people movement is so that they may find Him
“Syrians, Afghans, and Iranians are on our doorstep and many of them come with great openness to the message of salvation in Jesus. This is our new reality. We can either stand on the shore of disbelief and incredulity or we can hop on the tidal wave God has created.” Much fear surrounds the... Continue Reading
Passing It On
There is no shortage of places we can go to in the Bible that remind us of the importance of passing on the faith to the next generation
“God is concerned not only for our faith but also for the faith of our children. And surely that should be our concern too. If our children’s salvation is not our highest priority for them then we either don’t truly believe the gospel or we don’t truly love our children.” Earlier this year I... Continue Reading
The Difference Between Lament and Grumbling
The big difference, I believe, between sinful grumbling and sinless lament is simply humility
“What is the difference between the complaining or murmuring we’re not supposed to do, and that includes two texts, Philippians 2, verse 14, and 1st Corinthians 10, verse 10, and lamenting like we see in the Psalms? I’ll tip my cards and say, I think the main difference is pride and humility. Let me tell... Continue Reading