This morning, you and I awoke to the same heartbreaking news: The worst mass shooting in modern US history. At the time of this writing, news reports indicate that Stephen Paddock, acting alone, shot and killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas, wounding some 200 others. Paddock then killed himself as the SWAT teams were arriving to arrest him. Killing…
In his Knowing God, J. I. Packer begins with a quote from the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon: “It has been said by someone that ‘the proper study of mankind is man.’ I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian…
In his The Doctrine of the Word of God, John Frame presents what he calls a “thought experiment.” “Imagine God speaking to you right now, as realistically as you can imagine, perhaps standing at the foot of your bed at night. He speaks to you like your best friend, your parents, or your spouse. In the Bible, God often spoke…
In his Exegetical Fallacies, D. A. Carson presents the parable of Ernest Christian. Ernest, who represents the typical new seminary student, experiences the unpleasant phenomena of “distanciation.” Distanciation refers to the act of distancing oneself from a matter for the purpose of looking at it more objectively. For many students this is a new–and disturbing–way to approach the Bible. Carson…
“On March 9, 1974, Japanese Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda walked out of the jungle of on a remote island in the Philippines, finally convinced that World War II was over–29 years after it had ended. Trained as an intelligence officer in guerrilla warfare, he was told to survive at all cost. No matter what happened, his superiors would come for him….
I overheard an interesting discussion recently. A group of students were talking about music, and as the conversation progressed – no matter what point one of them made – one fellow would wade in to deliver the authoritative opinion. The most amusing moment occurred when one student dared to disagree with this pontiff. “Well,” he sniffed, “I happen to be…
Most people know Joseph Fiennes for playing William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love. Lately he has been playing significant religious characters. In 2003, Fiennes portrayed Martin Luther in Luther, and he will play Eric Liddell in The Last Race, which is scheduled for release later in 2016. The Last Race is a sequel of sorts to Chariots of Fire, and…
“We sometimes forget that we are called to be a people of both justice and justification, and that these two are not contradictory.” Recently Russ Moore wrote an excellent article discussing the proper Christian attitude towards ISIS. Like many other American Christians, at times I feel conflicted. ISIS is a malignant, evil organization, yet it is made of men (and…
This time last year I had the honor of preaching Joyce Knodell’s funeral. She was my mother-in-law. We’ve all heard lots of mother-in-law jokes. None of them applied to her. She was an encourager and a prayer-warrior. I entitled the message “An Ordinary Life Lived to the Glory of God.” I meant the descriptor “ordinary” as a high compliment. Last…
Named after its first proponent, Luis Molina (1535–1600), a sixteenth-century Jesuit priest, Molinism holds to a strong notion of God’s control and an equally firm affirmation of human freedom. In other words Molinism simultaneously holds to a Calvinistic view of a comprehensive divine sovereignty and to a version of free will (called libertarianism) generally associated with Arminianism. As Doug Geivett…