We Shall All Be Changed is an honest book. Pipkin’s personal stories will resonate with anyone who has lost a family member. But it’s also a gospel-infused, hopeful book written with beauty and truth. Having read it, I fear death less but hate it more as an enemy. And I believe down to my bones that... Continue Reading

I certainly know that not all elders are qualified or godly. Vote out bad, unqualified elders. After reading this book and its sexist claims against godly elders, re-read the qualifications for elders and see if any of those are reflected in the disdain elders are treated with in Alongside Care. What is the denomination thinking?... Continue Reading

Jesus’s mission, according to John’s prologue, is to reveal God the Father. John 1:18 seems to imply that humanity needs the incarnation, not only to make possible the sacrifice of the Lamb of God but more fundamentally because humanity needs to see the Father: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the... Continue Reading

The Nazarenes reject the Levitical texts because, according to them, such texts fail to show the love of God. Instead, they come from “ancient cultural biases.” The authors of “Why the Church” base their subjective argumentation on the power of love. God’s love must be shown to practicing homosexuals; to determine that their sexual practice... Continue Reading

All of Ephesians is about our conflict with darkness—within ourselves, with other people, with the spiritual forces of evil. Christ’s triumph over all that is evil, dark, and deadly is the message throughout. Now all these strands come together in one final description of life in Christ. Spiritual warfare is our participation in the Lord’s... Continue Reading

In his understandable zeal to honor his wife, Mr. Young’s speech in opposition to the overture was the final impetus for my decision to vote in favor. The reason is because, in his speech, Mr. Young extolled what he believed are the virtues of ‘Jesus Calling’, repeatedly calling attention to the worldwide impact of the... Continue Reading

Just as the mother crimson worm goes to the oak tree voluntarily to give her life for her children, so Jesus offered himself on the tree of the cross for your sins, according to the will of God (Gal. 1:4). Just as the crimson worm bleeds out a scarlet dye in the death she endures... Continue Reading

Did you know there is a connection between the names of Jesus and his work of creation? Psalm 8 celebrates his names as they relate to creation. “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (v. 1). In other words, Oh Jehovah (our covenantal God of creation), our Adonai (Jesus,... Continue Reading

“I fear you will never arrive at an understanding of God so long as you cannot bring yourself to see the good that often comes as a result of pain. For there is nothing, from the lowest, weakest tone of suffering to the loftiest acme of pain, to which God does not respond. There is... Continue Reading

While Neil Postman’s critique of image-based and entertainment- focused culture dates to the middle of the 1980s, his warning about the dominance of the electronically-mediated image (which we watch) over the word (which we read) should still challenge us today, especially since the dangers he exposed are more potent today given the explosion of internet... Continue Reading