Is Rome’s baptism perfect? Hardly. Can it be improved? Absolutely. Is Rome’s baptism ideal or recommended? Surely not. But does it remain valid? Yes, and for that reason, people who’ve been baptized in Rome should not be re-baptized. They should instead trust that divine intentions and divine grace outmatch Rome’s with every drop of baptismal... Continue Reading

Justice and mercy are not opposites but partners in the pursuit of human dignity and flourishing. To live well is to walk the narrow path between them—holding fast to what is right, while never losing sight of compassion.   Humans possess an innate sense of justice—a truth recognized by philosophers since antiquity and confirmed by... Continue Reading

When we pray for God to tear down those obstacles that hinder the Kingdom from a full advance, we do well. God truly does hate such things. But, at the same time, it may be that one of those sinful enemies of ours who despises God, who we in turn hate with perfect hatred, is... Continue Reading

The problem of evil will never be fully solved this side of eternity. Yet the Christian faith offers a response that neither denies the horror of suffering nor surrenders to despair. It proclaims a God who is sovereign over evil, present in suffering, and victorious through Christ. The cross stands as the ultimate answer: here... Continue Reading

While we are always to be growing in holiness, there must be an increasing sense of our total inadequacy.  The gospel we preach is a gospel we feel; that is, we are mindful of our sin and misery.  Without Christ, we are undone.  But continuing to taste the grace of Jesus, we have an ever-increasing... Continue Reading

You and are are not done with sin as Christians. Yes we are no longer slaves to sin, yes sin is not our master and we do not have to listen to his siren songs. But this side of glory we will wage a war with sin. Sometimes we forget that and we feel like... Continue Reading

With the hyper-ugly radical left even boasting about seeing more such assassinations of Christians and conservatives, we do not know what the rest of today or tomorrow holds. There may well be more such martyrs in the days ahead. But we keep on with Jesus Christ regardless.   Just over 10 days ago no one... Continue Reading

Unfortunately, what some call a spirit of discernment might simply be a critical spirit. It becomes easy to take the spiritual high ground—judge and condemn and label and categorize people—because the “gift” entitles them to do so. Hence, the Bible’s warnings against unrighteously judging and condemning somehow don’t apply to them…On the other hand, I... Continue Reading

A few pancakes prepared with a servant’s heart can do more to ease family tension than a short stack of defensive arguments doled out by a selfish heart. Jesus starts addressing Peter’s betrayal of him by choosing to condescend. He finds a way to serve. In this case, he makes breakfast for a man who... Continue Reading

Many have observed that the first commandment is the foundation for the other nine; to disobey the others is to turn away from the true God to worship an idol. This shows how dangerously varied idolatry can actually be. We may think of it as bowing down to an actual statue, but it can also... Continue Reading