But pastors are called to serve as wilderness guides, wandering through the ordinary with their people, loving them enough to point to the manna that keeps them spiritually alive even when it is unappreciated. We have to choose to keep embracing this high calling. When the Hebrews left Egypt to begin their difficult journey through... Continue Reading

I am open to being convinced that the Westminster Confession is not following Calvin’s literalist position: though the Assembly indisputably parrots his technical phrase, “in the space of six days.” But someone is going to have to produce the evidence! Recently, there have been a number of public, printed and spoken assertions made about the... Continue Reading

MacDonald could have chosen from dozens of black pastors who have differing views but instead choose Jakes to display, before a mostly white audience, a de facto representative of the black church. Even worse, tens-of-thousands of Jakes’ black and Hispanic followers could easily racialize the conversation if MacDonald or Driscoll seem to be attacking him... Continue Reading

Dennis Borgan correctly points out that the dominant mood in the nationalistic religion of contemporary America involves looking upon God as an ally rather than a master. On Sunday nights, I’ve been teaching through Counterfeit Gospelsat church. A few weeks ago, a college student who attends the class showed me an article from The Baptist... Continue Reading

It is surely valid to ask how the exegetical model that rejects a literal application of “six days” can be prevented from being applied to a literal application to “on the third day.” I read with much interest the recent exchange between Mr. Williamson and Dr. Evans. I believe that in one point he has... Continue Reading

If Barack Obama had been a private citizen in Iran and had made that same statement to any gathering there, he would be a jail cell contemplating being hanged by the neck alongside Pastor Nadarkhani. CNN News reports that an Iranian pastor has been sentenced to death for doing what pastors are expected to do:... Continue Reading

“Before the Westminster Assembly there were a variety of interpretations of Genesis 1 and its days. If the text of Genesis is so clear-cut why did the church down the centuries not see it that way? Does that not say something not only about the interpreters but also the text?” My friend and ARP ministerial... Continue Reading

If Elmer Gantry were around today he would not look like Burt Lancaster; he would look like a scruffy stand up comic. The events of the last ten days or so in the wider world of conservative American evangelicalism can surely have left no one in any doubt of the importance of cults of personality... Continue Reading

Those who (realize that they) are forgiven must love much (Lk 7:47). We can even say that love/gratitude is the highest motivation for Christian living. What we can’t say is that it is the Christian’s only valid motivation. Not by a long shot. I know a little about God’s grace. I’ve experienced God’s grace in... Continue Reading

My own conversations with Christian students who have undergone such revolutions in thinking suggest that their earlier stands — despite appearances — were built not on foundations strong enough to withstand the inevitable rattling from opposing views; their beliefs rested on weak scaffolds gradually dismantled by each successive encounter with a previously unconsidered idea, fact,... Continue Reading