Seeking a More Balanced Perspective: A Response to Ann Hall’s Review of Alongside Care
In this response, I hope to present a more balanced perspective of the authors’ message in “Alongside Care” and answer questions raised by Mrs. Hall’s review.
When it comes to women caring for women in our churches, Alongside Care seeks to provide a framework that honors God’s Word and His prescribed order for gender roles and church leadership. There may be differences in the terminology we use and the specific ways we implement such a ministry. Some churches may not need... Continue Reading
Christianity’s Contributions to World Culture
Many transformative ideas and whole fields of thought arose out of the intellectual culture of medieval and early modern European Christianity.
Ironically, the modern academic world, as secular as it has become, has its roots in an intellectually inclined monastic culture where humble monks, priests, and spiritual seekers searched for God and deep knowledge in harmony with faith, love, hope, and charity. It is seldom noted today, but both [experimental science and modern mathematics] were... Continue Reading
The Past Is More Than A List of Problems
We should not assume that just because we are the latest generation on earth, we are the greatest.
We must also seek out the good and right, the ageless wisdom and courage and faith that have always stood against evil, the virtues that have cultivated our world, the convictions that have built up and beautified it. Our ancestors have shown us many ways to fall and fail, certainly, but they have also at times... Continue Reading
The Tragedy of IVF
Do you think that children born by IVF are human beings?
IVF and surrogacy witness to the most natural and most glorious of human desires, that of a man and a woman wanting together to create the life of another person. Yet the very procedures require society to treat that person as a thing, a commodity. It is the quintessential tragedy of our modern, technological age.... Continue Reading
Five Myths about Christianity and Politics in America
Christians are called to live out their faith in every area of life—including politics.
Christianity and politics are not mutually exclusive. While the church should never become a political machine, it has a responsibility to engage the political sphere with moral clarity and courage. Our laws are, and always will be, reflections of our moral values, and Christians have an important role to play in shaping those values. ... Continue Reading
El Shaddai, the God Who Is More Than Enough
El Shaddai is the God Who is more than enough to be our arm of strength in these days.
No matter who we are, “El Shaddai” is on our side. However, the battle also faces us as a corporate body, especially at this time in the Church’s history—when the evil one will seek to take advantage to discourage, divide, and disperse the children of God during the repaganization of Western Civilization. But God Almighty,... Continue Reading
When Kings Take Counsel Together
The World May Not Rule Itself Without Christ
When our rulers and men of wealth, the mighty in the land, take counsel together to substitute human authority for divine authority, when by their lies they throw all things into chaos that they might impose an order of their own making, this Petrine counsel is the counsel we must take. We must fearlessly adhere... Continue Reading
The Practice of Accepting Disappointment
No one ever can fully meet your hopes, desires, and expectations. And you can’t meet theirs.
God’s gifts are good and are meant to be enjoyed. Yet none of them can deliver all that they promise. Each of them brings a level of satisfaction but also a level of disappointment, a sense of beauty but also a sense of longing for more. We need to be wary of that longing for... Continue Reading
A New Testament Scholar Explains What Should Be the Two Key Voting Concerns for Christians
How do Christians determine what are the most important matters when voting for or against a political candidate? We have to start “in the beginning.”
Summary: The two most consequential acts of God at creation were the valuing of human life as the only creatures made in God’s image and the integrating of that image-bearing into the creation of male and female sexual counterparts. Since these two creation acts are most consequential in the eyes of God, policies adversely affecting... Continue Reading
Seeking Godly Rulers In Ungodly People
How Should the Church Speak Prophetically Towards Holiness in Its Rulers
A country’s leaders will reflect the country, and a country will reflect their leaders. Even more so a church which is unconcerned with personal holiness in itself will no doubt not seek leaders which reflect the type of life Christ expects of all men. Putting up with sin has a leprous effect on the body... Continue Reading