Discerning the Devil
Against Satan’s deceptions, we must stand in the Holy Scriptures
“In his second letter to the Corinthians included in the canon of Scripture, Paul revisits many of the same problems he addressed in his first letter. Only this time, he brings another consideration to bear, that of enemy opposition and spiritual combat.” The children’s Sunday School class could no longer use the room. The... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About Systematic Theology
Systematic theology is a way of studying the Bible that attends to the full scope of biblical teaching
The only way the church truly submits to the Bible’s doctrinal and moral teaching is by submitting to the full scope of the Bible’s doctrinal and moral teaching. Failure to attend to the whole counsel of God “leads to one-sidedness and error in theology and pathology in the religious life” (Herman Bavinck). 1. Systematic... Continue Reading
10 Indicators You’ve Stopped Growing as a Leader
See if your life reflects any of these indications that you’ve stopped growing as a leader
“You no longer seek mentors. Mentors challenge us, stretch us, push us, mold us. Leaders who don’t have mentors often have little accountability for growth—and thus less reason to grow.” Leaders who stop growing lose their edge as a leader. They become stale, even if others may not readily recognize it. See if your... Continue Reading
The “Watchmaker Argument”
Two hundred years ago a bishop, by the name of William Paley, wrote a book in which he used a watch to illustrate how clear it was that God is real.
The woodpecker, is a marvelous bird and far from ordinary. Take his bill, for example. Isn’t it amazing how he can ram it into a tree thousands of times a minute without having to replace it or getting a terrific headache? Well, his head is equipped with shock absorbers. And these shock absorbers cushion the... Continue Reading
The Trauma of Holiness
This holy God inspires far greater trauma in those whom He encounters than any natural disaster
“Martin Luther and the other Reformers understood the holy character of this God. For them, the recovery of the gospel was such good news because they knew the trauma of holiness and that the only way to endure the presence of this holy God’s judgment is to be covered in the holiness and righteousness of... Continue Reading
Are the “Calvinist” Critics of Piper Really Calvinists At All?
Many of the arguments used to defend a Reformed doctrine of justification don’t seem very Reformed
Unlike many “Reformed” theologians today who view conditional or instrumental language with respect to good works as unorthodox or legalistic or outside the bounds of Reformed orthodoxy, Calvin unashamedly uses such language. When I was a student at Westminster Seminary, I spent a number of months studying the Norman Shepherd controversy which racked that... Continue Reading
Why Keeping Commitments is Critical to Your Influence
Three reasons integrity is key to your success
“There’s nothing wrong with asking to be released from a commitment. But if we can’t get free, then we need to make good on it. If we try living true to ourselves at the expense of others, it’ll cost us our relationships, our success, and ultimately everything of real and lasting value.” When we... Continue Reading
Exegesis without Embarrassment
Biblical Interpretation, Old Testament Books, & Tough Texts
It is understandable why teachers and curriculum might not put much emphasis on the destruction of Jericho’s citizens or the other instances in the book of Joshua that describe the Israelites’ killing the residents and animals of entire towns. These stories can make us feel uncomfortable, after all. They can be hard enough to explain... Continue Reading
ACLU Fights Faith-Based Child Placement Agencies
The lawsuit names Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Charities, which are not defendants, as foster care and adoption agencies that turned away two married lesbian couples trying to adopt children.
When Michigan lawmakers began drafting the religious protection laws in 2013, faith-based groups made up about 25 percent of the state’s child welfare agencies. The same holds true in Texas. A loss of even half of those agencies would result in an immediate reduction in available foster families and the ability to recruit more, said... Continue Reading
Believers Are Saved And Sealed
It is being proposed that believers are initially justified by grace alone, through faith alone but only finally saved through faith and works.
The Scriptures teach and the Reformed churches confess that believers are definitively, finally, once-for-all justified before God. They will not be re-tried. They cannot be re-tried. To suggest such a thing is to insult the perfect righteousness of our Savior and to deny the once-for-all declaration of God. Christ did not become incarnate for his people,... Continue Reading