A Note on Experienced Pain, Truth and Developing Doctrine
My experiences, my position, my place, my psychological make-up incline me in a particular direction theologically.
It’s an obvious truism that all theology is done by humans, from particular perspectives, who inevitably have their favored theological paradigms informed by their experiences. But are we at least trying to give priority to God’s self-revelation, his self-testimony in the Gospel and recorded in Scripture? Are we at least attempting to let God’s Word... Continue Reading
Doing Violence to Scripture
Christian pacifism became untenable for me because the God who punished, killed, and destroyed in the Old Testament remains the God of the New Testament.
The picture is clear: God is a just and holy God who punishes sin. He has to do so because God’s perfect justice and holiness require it. That is the God of Israel. This realization has led many today and in the past to reject the Old Testament. Some of the earliest heresies in the... Continue Reading
The Humility of Caleb
Humility is learned when the giants come, and God says, “Not now.”
This is the humility of Caleb. What do we do when faced with a tremendous trial and our hope is deferred? What do we do when that which we long for seems so far away? What do we do when there is nothing that we can do except endure the pain? What do we do... Continue Reading
3 Reasons it’s Hard to Follow Jesus
Many Christians remain shocked by the fact that the Christian life may cost a lot in this life.
It’s very tempting to water down the Gospel and promise great comforts in this life for those around us, but while there is great joy in knowing Christ, we need to be careful to speak the truth. While we should be regularly pleading and encouraging our children, our neighbors, our coworkers, and family members to... Continue Reading
Christian Patriarchy: Here’s How You Have Left God
The root problem in patriarchy for many of its adherents is that while lip service was being given to Jesus Christ, He Himself was removed from the place of centrality and supremacy in their individual lives, their families, and their churches.
A person. They exalted the man, the flawed (and sometimes duplicitously wicked) man, the husband/father or sometimes the pastor or another leader, to the place where Jesus Himself should be. They looked to the man to give them the words of Jesus Christ, to stand in His place. God will surely see how much we honor the... Continue Reading
The Marcions Have Landed. A Warning For Evangelicals
There is one whose influence is perhaps much greater than we are aware of, yet whose thinking all but pervades the modern evangelical church: Marcion.
We need to grasp once again who God is in his fullness; we need to grasp who we are in relation to him; and we need teaching and worship which gives full-orbed expression to these things – and this will only come when we in the West grow up, ditch the designer gods we build... Continue Reading
The Attitude of Apologetics
The word apologetics derives from the Greek word apologia, which means “to give an answer” or “to make a defense.”
God calls us to be ready to make a defense for the hope that is in us, but notice that He calls us to do it with gentleness and respect. Apologetics isn’t just for some Christians, it is for all Christians. We all must know what we believe, why we believe it, how to live... Continue Reading
The Essential Van Til — The Pastor and Systematic Theology
Van Til in all his writing always has an eye towards the church and her ministry.
At first blush it may sound like that Van Til is prioritizing systematic theology over the Bible. There is nothing further from the truth. What Van Til is eschewing is the practice of myopic and atomistic handling of Scripture in the ministry. We might say that Van Til is saying that systematic theology properly done... Continue Reading
Don’t Just Tweet Your Proverbs: Lessons from Solomon
King Solomon was the wisest man in the Old Testament. Yet, he had the most precipitous moral freefall of all the kings.
Solomon had spiritual riches, not to mention physical ones. He was immensely blessed by God. There are few men who are such illustrations of blessing like Solomon. Among the greatest of his blessings was the gift of wisdom to rule the people of Israel. God gave him this when He appeared to him at Gibeon.... Continue Reading
Blessed Are the Meek
Contrary to what many may think, meekness is not weakness
“The point is that meekness is not native to our fallen state. So, in our justification, the meekness of Christ is credited to us by faith alone, and in our sanctification, the Holy Spirit is conforming us into the image of Christ, which includes His meekness.” It is not uncommon for commentators and Bible... Continue Reading