Evans is saying nothing particularly provocative nor even progressive; she simply represents a standard UMC critique of conservative evangelicalism. Given Evans’ presuppositions, I am not certain she could list a single objection to what the UMC believes and practices. For the record, I have nothing against the UMC, but I do find it odd if... Continue Reading

God, having begun His work in our lives, “will bring it” to completion. This indicates that God not only guarantees the completion of our salvation, but is actively involved in the believer’s life to bring this to pass. God works in our lives in the way a craftsman works to finish a product he has... Continue Reading

So why does God save? For many reasons, but in and through all of them, God displays who he is and thus glorifies himself. God manifests his glory because in saving us he displays his wisdom (Rom. 11:33-36; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; Eph. 3:10-11), righteousness, justice (Rom. 3:25-26), love, mercy, kindness, (Eph. 2:4-7; Rom. 9:20-23), freedom,... Continue Reading

The Supper is too holy important as an ordinance of Christ, a means of grace, and communal experience to be celebrated alone in a space ship on the moon. I suppose, however, if we think of heaven spatially, if he used the traditional Reformed Sursum Corda (“We lift up our hearts to the Lord”), he... Continue Reading

You see, I’m persuaded that in the here and now, many of us experience a Gospel blindness. Our sight is dimmed by the tyranny of the urgent, by the siren call of success, by the seductive beauty of physical things, by our inability to admit our own problems, and by the casual relationships within the... Continue Reading

More than one financial-aid counselor told me it would be impossible to graduate debt-free. It often seemed like the naysayers were right. But persistence helped me pull it off. And even if I had fallen short, I still would have had to borrow much less than the average student. I may not have had as... Continue Reading

Biblical church discipline is a culture of accountability, growth, forgiveness, and grace that should permeate our churches. Each member of a church has a responsibility to help others as they struggle with sin—not through judgment and criticism, but rather with gentleness and an eye toward restoration, knowing that he too is subject to temptation (Gal.... Continue Reading

Paul explained the solution to our deserved condemnation in the obedience of the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). He explicitly suggests that the first Adam was a “type” of the second Adam. If Adam was not a historical being then neither was Jesus. Moses tell us how Adam was created (Gen. 1:26; 2:5-8) and... Continue Reading

Hopefully, the next time a pastor or someone tries to pull the guilt trip on you, you will see through it. Guilt trips are just that. They are trips to get us motivated into responding the way the speaker wants us to respond, and that never leads to salvation, because it is based upon deception... Continue Reading

I had no idea what “worse” would look like in marriage. We were both naive. We thought we took the high and happy road by being fully committed to covenantal love for one another, and that would lead to a ton of better and little worse. Experientially  it didn’t. Though we’ve never even discussed divorce since... Continue Reading