Offer Advice Very Carefully
Giving advice goes poorly so often, it is worth more careful thought about how we give it.
My point is not that it is wrong to give advice. It is that in our haste and casual handling of Scripture, we confuse our advice with “God has said . . . .” This can be disrespectful because we’ve offered a blanket statement without much thought to the particulars involved. Or maybe the person... Continue Reading
Stop the Smug Media Sermons on Corporal Punishment
What armchair observers of the Adrian Peterson episode get wrong
In a 2010 study, “Are Spanking Injunctions Scientifically Supported?” Larzelere and developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind observed that researchers regularly fail to differentiate between abusive and non-abusive corporal punishment, to distinguish whether corporal punishment was used in an appropriate disciplinary situation, and to show that the link between corporal punishment and negative outcomes was causal, not... Continue Reading
5 Ways to Make Criticism Sting Less
Criticism can completely derail your day, your week, and your work; what do you do when it comes your way?
We can’t make the assumption that all our critics are crazy, frustrated or need counseling. That’s an easy crutch too many leaders lean on. But sometimes good people say and do bad things. And sometimes the blast comes with zero basis in reality….Discard it. Criticism. You dread it. I dread it. Who doesn’t? In fact, it can completely derail... Continue Reading
Gay Marriage: Support For Same-Sex Weddings Dropping: Pew Poll
When asked if homosexuality was a sin, a total of 50 percent of Pew gay marriage poll participants answered yes.
The Pew gay marriage poll found that 49 percent of Americans supported same-sex unions but also noted that opposition to such nuptials had increased to 41 percent. The Pew Research Center poll also stated that support for gay weddings was down five percentage points since the group had posed the same questions to Americans in... Continue Reading
PCA Minister Wayne King, 61, Called Home to Glory
Wayne King was pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, La
After working for over 20 years on the mission fields of South East Asia, translating the Word of God into languages that previously did not have it, he was called to pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Baton Rouge, LA and served there faithfully for over ten years, until the time of his death. ... Continue Reading
The Soul-numbing Dangers of Patriarchy
A response to Vyckie Garrison on her move from patriarchy to atheism
In her article, Vyckie discusses each type of abuse she experienced in the patriarchy movement. I would like to go through her points and address each of those points. My argument is not that it isn’t abuse, but rather that what she experienced was not Christianity. I understand why she equates patriarchy with Christianity, but I... Continue Reading
Two Things We Must Be Clear About When We Talk About Homosexuality
Homosexuality as a sin, but it's not the only sin
Our problem is much bigger than any one expression of sin. Our problem is a planet of 7 billion people each going his or her own way, with thousands of years’ worth of backstory to that rebellion. The tangled web that all of those rebels weave, a web of sinning and being sinned against, creates... Continue Reading
How Can I Know for Sure? Certain Uncertainty
For many, certainty has gone the way of fairy tales.
But is that really the case? Does mature and honest apprehension of God, self, and the world lead only to unending questions? Can I never know anything for sure? Do the divergent opinions of world religions and disparate interpretive schemes of Christian faith drive only to skepticism? Has God left us with troubles, questions, and... Continue Reading
Adamic Evasions, Divine Provision: Calvin on Gen. 3.8-21
What might we learn from Adam's response and God's response to Adam's sin?
In sum, while Adam is, according to Calvin, a genuine historical person, there is also a genuine sense in which Adam constitutes a symbol of every man (and woman). Adam’s sin and God’s response to it serve as a (prophetic) picture of every individual’s response to his or her guilt and God’s own, more radical... Continue Reading
Do Genesis 1 and 2 Contradict?
A response to the series by Peter Enns’ entitled, “Aha moments: biblical scholars tell their stories.”
A hermeneutic of suspicion appears to dominate those who hold to two separate, contradictory creation accounts from two different sources. It is true that the two chapters of Genesis view the creation event from two different angles or perspectives. Genesis 1 paints the creation of the cosmos in a sequential, broad stroke, whereas Genesis 2:4-25... Continue Reading