Missionaries to America
“…introducing people to Jesus. He is the Savior of the world and one day He is coming again. Most people are not ready for that because most people don’t even know who He really is. Especially here in America…” Yesterday was “that” day. I knew it was coming. I was in line waiting for the... Continue Reading
Can Biologists in the 21st Century Change Our Spots?
Is this just an interesting twist for a college research project, or is it another biological scheme to eradicate the need for God? No one will be surprised to hear evolutionary naturalism holds a dominant footing in the academic world and particularly in the field of science, nor should anyone be surprised to hear those... Continue Reading
A Contradictory Jesus
People who struggle with the Bible tend to come in two groups. Skeptics, who seek facts, and cynics, who seek faults.(1) It is interesting that those same people were present in Jesus’ day; Jesus himself tended to show mercy and patience with the former group, and have no patience at all with the latter. As... Continue Reading
Home Thoughts from Abroad – Report on the New Word Alive Conference
The appetite for serious theology in the UK church seems to be rising. I gave seminars on Athanasius on the Trinity, Luther on the cross, Augustine and Pascal on the psychology of sin, and Schleiermacher and Machen on the nature of Christianity. Strange times. I return to the US after a week in Wales to... Continue Reading
Tim Keller Makes It Clear: You’re Not Saved by Works
Pastor Tim Keller got up and preached to a crowd of 5,300 people in Chicago Tuesday about the epic story of the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea and showed how it deepens the New Testament’s salvation story. The Manhattan megachurch pastor’s message offered a practical example of how to preach Jesus and the gospel... Continue Reading
Is Hell Dead? – Time Magazine’s review of Rob Bell and his controversial book
What many believers in the 21st century accept as immutable doctrine was first formulated in the fog and confusion of the 1st century, a time when the followers of Jesus were baffled and overwhelmed by their experience of losing their Lord; many had expected their Messiah to be a Davidic military leader, not an atoning... Continue Reading
Hipster Faith – So what happens when ‘cool’ meets Christ?
Today’s Christian hipsters are doing the reverse. They seek to break out of the Christian subculture. The clothes and customs they shed are nothing less than the evangelical establishment itself, formed through decades of attempts at cool Christianity. Here’s a riddle: A young man walks into a building. From the outside, it looks like a... Continue Reading
Rethinking Progress – believing the gospel and receiving its finished reality into all parts of our life.
The gospel has me reconsidering the typical way we think about Christian growth. It has me rethinking spiritual measurements and maturity; what it means to change, develop, grow; what the pursuit of holiness and the practice of godliness really entails. What’s been happening in me recently is similar to what happened in me when I... Continue Reading
Christian Charity and the Welfare State
The good news (in addition to the Good News of the gospel) for American Christians is that there are no laws preventing us, either as individuals, churches, or voluntary organizations, from engaging in charitable activities and helping the poor. Each one of us is free to do Christian works without hindrance or persecution from the... Continue Reading
A Fresh Look at the Discipline of the Church
Before Jesus says even the first word regarding the steps involved in responding to a brother who sins against you, he addresses at length the subject of humility. Every seminarian knows Matthew 18 as a classic text on church discipline. They know the orderly steps by heart. The hardest issue is perhaps defining which role... Continue Reading