My mistake as a young Christian was to believe that God would only be involved in major life decisions like relocating to another continent but absent from the “smaller” decisions (which are really just as significant): where I went to school, what job I had, who my friends were. The truth is God is providentially... Continue Reading

In more recent times, modern thinkers have objected to the satisfaction view of the atonement on the grounds that it casts a shadow over the free grace and love of God. If God is a God of love, why can He not just forgive people gratuitously from the pure motivation of His own love and... Continue Reading

What if I look at that number and I know, as certainly as I have ever known anything, that the number on my phone’s little screen represents 30 or 40 or 75 minutes, gone from my carefully scheduled life. What if I see the number that, by rights, ought to display as “Complaint About The... Continue Reading

The New Mexico Supreme Court dismissed all of the arguments presented on behalf of the Huguenins—arguments that have a very clear precedent in decisions by other courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision in this case by this court is both stark and strident, rejecting the reality that its holding forces... Continue Reading

Nevertheless, God does at times use his people to transform social structures.  Things are never perfect, but transformation—real change—happens.  Sometimes this takes place, as in the medieval period, through the slow-and-steady cultural leaven of the church’s ministry. Sometimes it takes place more quickly, such as through revival and the powerful social-reform impulse that accompanied it... Continue Reading

Often, the act of apologizing itself is seen as the penance to be paid: All one must do is look suitably downtrodden and make a public statement of remorse. These apologizers see it best to not admit too much wrongdoing and to blame-shift a bit. Once all that is over, the apologizer is off the... Continue Reading

Seventh, do you need to name a name or can you simply critique the problematic concept?  My rule of thumb when it comes to fellow Christians is generally to critique the concept and not name any individual.   This is particularly important when it comes, for example, to other ministers of good standing.  My goal is... Continue Reading

Such a conception had to lead to an essentially optimistic view of culture and the world. Not that Kuyper himself lost sight of sin and its awful consequences for the human race and the cosmos. He deeply believed in the antithesis and thus in the fundamental difference between common and particular grace. The same cannot... Continue Reading

I cannot tell you what challenges your precious one might have — just as I cannot tell you what challenges anybody’s child will have, “special needs” or not. One aspect of your child’s life just happens to be detectable by prenatal medical technology. But prenatal testing cannot tell you who your child will be, anymore... Continue Reading

It is no coincidence in a society where we imagine ourselves mostly as victims of social or biological forces, in a culture increasingly illiterate in the language of guilt, sin, and personal responsibility, that Christus Victor is winning the day in the Christian world. To be clear: I am not suggesting that champions of Christus... Continue Reading