Debate and conversation, especially when they rely upon reason, rationality, science, evidence, epistemic adequacy, and other Enlightenment-based tools of persuasion are the very thing they think produced injustice in the world in the first place. Those are not their methods and they reject them.   I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked... Continue Reading

Our conscience is placed within us as we are created by God in relation to other creatures. God governs this world by covenant relationship to His creatures, and by instilling a natural structure within us as we carry out our covenant obligations.   Recent events have forced many Christians to re-consider the nature of their... Continue Reading

Reasonableness is a practical outworking of our finitude. We don’t have all the answers, we don’t have infinite knowledge, and we are sinners. In short, we can be wrong.   We live in an increasingly polarized world. Everything is binary. Nuance is suspect. Taking time to understand another is tantamount to compromise. Entrenchment is seen... Continue Reading

The book of Job doesn’t just tell the story of natural disasters but also reveals what was behind the scenes—a very real Devil. At this point, many people may scoff and dismiss the book of Job as outdated. After all, this is a day where we believe in science. Christians do not and should not... Continue Reading

Respecting context is particularly important when we talk about the Bible with others. In these situations we are not only communicating the meaning of the Bible but also the proper use of the Bible.   I’ve argued that the context of Scripture is so important that ignoring it is dangerous. One might conclude that I... Continue Reading

Jesus knows what it is to be human in this hurt and broken world, and he is very proactive in initiating acts of grace in our lives. Sadly, just like the man in John 5, we are also often slow to respond.   At first glance, John 5:1-18 looks like any other healing narrative in... Continue Reading

When it comes to the crucifixion we have the sequence frame by frame; almost, indeed, an hourly bulletin. The crucifixion narrative goes into slow motion.   “When it comes to Good Friday the Gospels go into slow motion. They have passed over in silence whole decades of Jesus’ life, and even when they pick up... Continue Reading

Up until now, we have not been wielding the two-edged sword of the Spirit, law and gospel, to contend against the powers facing us. Our action has looked the same as the secular activism around us as we seek conversations with dialogue partners rather than proclaiming the word of life. We are peddling all the... Continue Reading

The writers of the Confession describe those who are adopted by God as “all those that are justified.” This is important to understand because while justification and adoption are separate doctrines, as previously mentioned (the former being a legal blessing of salvation, the latter being filial), they are always linked. The point is, all whom... Continue Reading

Counterintuitive to our Western individualism, it is in the corporate worship of the Lord and in a meditation on His eternal perfections and His condescending mercy that the psalmist receives the divine medicine needed for his woes.   In the first post in this two-part series, I showed how the Psalms—in particular, Psalm 102—give us... Continue Reading