ABSTRACT: For now, Christians live in a great theological tension: we already possess every spiritual blessing in Christ, but we do not experience the fullness of these blessings yet. In one sense, we are already adopted, redeemed, sanctified, and saved; in another, these experiences are not yet fully ours. Underneath this theological and practical tension are... Continue Reading

Critical Race Theory is a worldview that interprets everything through the lens of social and political power dynamics. It is an all-encompassing vision that views all cultural, political, and social institutions as oppressive and requires explicit and continuous anti-racism “work” to mete out its vision for a liberated humanity. It is a race-focused ideology which... Continue Reading

The first is that we’ve backed away from a biblical definition of a leader—humble, gentle, kind, faithful, loving, servant… There’s a second thing: we’ve diminished and devalued the importance of a strong, watchful, comforting, confronting leadership community around a leader.   The Church’s Leadership Crisis There are two things that are at the heart of... Continue Reading

Spurgeon was both widely read, and shaped by the content of his reading. He had a unique ability to assimilate vast amounts of information with accuracy and permanence, and to retrieve that information for concise use in his sermons and writings. Nevertheless, he avoided the appearance of intellectual superiority, despised pretention, and felt that including... Continue Reading

God has not left Christians to such a fate of being faithless and fearful. He has given us the gift of faith. He has shown us His mighty works over thousands of years. He has promised us that even if the worst comes upon us, He will still be with us.   Then he brought... Continue Reading

When people worship what is not worthy of worship instead of worshipping God, He will give them over to whatever it is. This giving people up or giving people over is the same thing as giving people a spirit of stupor. This is a spiritual blindness that cannot be overcome by any power other than... Continue Reading

Is beauty equivalent to truth and goodness? Certainly beauty as some kind of ultimate value must place it into relationship with other ultimate values such as goodness or truth. Again, this definition, by itself, falls short. Beauty, as the Hebrew writers showed us, is more than a philosophical construct or abstract notion. Beauty is a... Continue Reading

Trump reminds me of Darius in the Bible who was a pagan king, but who was sympathetic to the movement of the Jews going back to the Promised Land.  Sometimes, God surprises us and uses a crooked stick to draw a straight line.  This is one way God answers prayers.    I will be voting... Continue Reading

To Dykstra, what the congregational letter describes as “Neland’s journey toward LGBT+ inclusion” has been a move away from Scripture. “I don’t think that all of a sudden after 2,000+ years of scriptural interpretation that things have suddenly changed. I think that unfortunately our church is following cultural norms and listening to the ways of... Continue Reading

If the church is to be rooted in the timeless truths of God’s word, it needs leaders who are standing on the shoulders of giants in whom the Spirit of God was at work. If pastors are to navigate the overwhelming challenges of an increasingly secular and antagonistic society–not to mention the internal attacks from... Continue Reading