And Prayer is Now Hate
Now the militants even want prayer banned!
This is all about preventing people getting the help they are desperately seeking. This is also all about the criminalisation of Christianity. And it is easy to do: simply label all real deal Christians as haters, call the Bible a book of hate speech, and refer to prayer as a hate-filled practice, right up there... Continue Reading
Jesus, Ready to Forgive How God Summons the Guilty
It is not ultimately because of coronavirus or cancer or tower accidents that we die — the wages of sin is death.
When we say we are “saved,” we must be clear on what we need to be saved from. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9). Are we content, as Richard Niebuhr so memorably put it, with the theology... Continue Reading
Why You Feel The Way You Do Right Now
Last week Russell Moore asked, “Are Our Pastors in Trouble”? The answer is “yes. Yes, we are.” But so are our people.
Trauma has a tendency to run away from healing, especially if we have not cultivated a discipline of lament. We aren’t a very emotionally healthy people so collective trauma is going to have far-reaching consequences for us as a people. And the church, sadly, rather than helping is usually part of the puppet show. But... Continue Reading
The World’s Hatred is not a Guarantee that You are Following Jesus
People might hate us simply because we are being obnoxious. There are a number of possibilities.
I mention this because too many Christians behave and speak obnoxiously at times, and then when the world responds with hatred, we automatically attribute that hatred to our faithfulness to Christ. I know I’ve been guilty of speaking in an obnoxious way at times. If I do that, I shouldn’t be surprised at a negative... Continue Reading
Church May Ditch ‘Husband’ and ‘Wife’
One hopes the good folk of the Church of Scotland will see that there is much more at stake here than just a change of nomenclature.
Though sex is a wonderful and sacred aspect of marriage, there is much more than a linkage of two bodies. A whole marriage also joins the souls of two people so there is a harmonization of their minds, emotions, and wills. Even more important is the union of spirit in which they share a strong... Continue Reading
School Chaplain Reported As Terror Threat For Opposing LGBT Curriculum Challenges Firing
"I ended up being told that I had to support everybody else's beliefs, no matter what, while my Christian beliefs, the Church of England's beliefs, were blatantly censored." - Bernard Randall
Randall said he became alarmed when staff were instructed during the training session to chant “smash heteronormativity,” and told that gender identity is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. He says that when he raised concerns, he was told by the head teacher that he would be involved in any decision on whether the... Continue Reading
Questioning the Kingdom? – Part 1: Definitions
The kingdom of Christ has visible impact on the world not only within the walls of the church but wherever his word is believed and his lordship obeyed.
The cultural fruit of Christendom in the West, though sometimes overripe and worm-eaten, still stands to remind us that the gospel cannot help but transform. This process will continue amid trial, triumph, and setback until the return of Christ as he puts his spiritual enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25). These enemies include such... Continue Reading
Opportunities and Opposition
And so the kingdom comes: the kingdom of grace is extended, the kingdom of darkness is assaulted, and the kingdom of glory draws near.
Opposition without opportunity can be disheartening, even crippling, for pastors and churches. Opportunity without opposition can be unhealthy, even dangerous, for pastors and churches. But, in God’s wisdom, opportunity and opposition often come together. The opportunity fires the heart before God in the teeth of the opposition. The opposition bows the heart before God in... Continue Reading
“Idiocy” in Trinitarian Theology
In claiming that God his “his own Father,” Jesus is claiming that it is God’s natural property to be his Father and, by implication, that he is God’s natural-born Son.
Jesus is not merely God’s son by virtue of creation or adoption. As it belongs to the nature of a fig tree to bear figs, so it belongs to the nature of God to beget a divine Son. In claiming to be the Father’s natural-born Son, Jesus claims to share the Father’s power to heal on the Sabbath and, by... Continue Reading
Biblical Apologetics: How Shall We Respond to Unbelief?
Well-meaning Christians have turned apologetics into a nasty slug fest. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Our response to unbelief is crucial. The world is watching. May our apologetics match the biblical model. And may we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a winsome and compelling way. For in the final analysis, all of God’s elect will hear and believe. “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation... Continue Reading
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