Six Reasons Reformed Christians Should Embrace Six-Day Creation
By ‘6-day creation,’ I’m referring not just to one’s view of Genesis 1, but to an entire chronology of historical events.
One cannot extend history for billions of years without attaching new events to it. Those events have theological consequences. This is why Reformed thinkers like Geerhardus Vos, Louis Berkhof, and D. Martin Lloyd-Jones embraced 6-day creation. They understood it is the events included in 6-day creation that are essential for Christian theology. This sponsored post... Continue Reading
Confessing Sin in the Midst of Suffering
After a few days of wrestling with very dark emotions, the Holy Spirit broke through and strongly convicted me of my sin of complaining.
Years ago, my pastor preached a sermon from Philippians on this subject, and it ministered great grace to me. I’ve never forgotten it. God’s instructions to not complain are a GIFT OF GRACE from Him for us to endure in hard times. I’ve been on a long, hard journey of suffering. Unlike previous trials which let... Continue Reading
The Lesson That Saved My Marriage
United to Christ, I can joyfully submit to this earthly union, trusting the same God who is shaping me to be more like his Son is at work in my husband too.
Complementarian churches regularly call men to step up, to initiate, to lead the way, to spiritually lead their wives and kids. They are to set the pace for the home as the family runs after Christ. This is a good and biblical challenge. The problem comes when we (wives) hear this teaching for our husbands and want from... Continue Reading
What Do You Do with Your Guilt?
The beautiful feeling of a clean slate is much more motivating to holiness than guilt is.
The cross of Christ has resources not just for forgiveness and the removal of guilt, but also the removal of sin’s power in our lives. We have the Holy Spirit! Remember our theology: justification never happens without sanctification coming along for the ride. Lots of people have been raised on guilt like it was... Continue Reading
Right & Wrong Ways to Pray
God has very specific ways in which he wants us to communicate with him and make requests. And Jesus coached his disciples on this very topic.
Perhaps you think of prayer as a personal affair and that there isn’t a right or wrong way to pray. But Jesus doesn’t say “You can pray just as you do, God knows your heart,” No, Jesus says, “Do not pray like this, but… (vs 9) Pray then like this…” So before we get to... Continue Reading
What is a “Gospel” Anyway? A Few Thoughts on Gospel Genre and Why it Matters
Meredith Kline, recognizing the unequivocal Old Testament backdrop, has argued that the Gospels are best understood as covenant documents.
So, here’s the big pay off. To read the Gospels as covenant documents keeps the larger redemptive-historical narrative of the Bible front and center, allows us to see how the whole of Scripture is unified around the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, and reminds us what makes the canonical gospels distinctive from the... Continue Reading
Extinguishing the Fire of Destructive Speech
The tongue, though small, can be a mighty weapon.
In the Bible, the tongue can be used for wisdom or for folly. Many of the Proverbs contrast a wise tongue and a destructive tongue. The question is, how does one gain wisdom and use the tongue for good? How do we use our words for healing and to bring life rather than death to... Continue Reading
Engaging With 1689 (1)
To the degree our Baptist friends assert that the Abrahamic covenant was a covenant of works, they have sharply departed from the theology of Luther, Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin, and Beza.
There are approximately 60 million North American evangelicals—by contrast there are probably no more than about 500,000 confessionally Reformed Christians in North America. Virtually all of those evangelicals either assume or consciously confess some version of a Baptist account of redemptive history and some version of a Baptist view of the church and sacraments. Because... Continue Reading
Who Is the God of Mormonism?
The term “God” is the most foundational difference between Christian and LDS theology.
According to official LDS doctrine, Heavenly Father has not always been a god. He was once like us (some say he was a sinner, and some think he never sinned), but he followed a plan (just as we’re required to follow a plan) to reach godhood. He has a physical body as we do and is... Continue Reading
What Really Happened?
It turns out gratitude is the secret to happiness. Even Oprah is doing it.
While they are reveling in the epiphany that gratitude can help steer negative thinking and depression, I am thinking about how this functions as a worldly substitute for prayer. It made me kind of sad. I mean, I’m happy that they have discovered gratefulness, but whom are they thanking for all that they have discovered... Continue Reading