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Continue reading →: fifth friday free-for-all: every kids movie is the same
Ok, maybe not every kids movie but it sure seems like it more and more. Almost every time I take the time to sit down and watch a movie with my kids, it has the same basic idea. I don’t know if this intentional or not or how long it’s…
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Continue reading →: 10 resurrection applications pt 1
A while back I had the privilege of leading a study on the resurrection. We spent some time looking at the apologetic side of things. We spent some time examining the theological implications. And then we finished with thinking about its practical application for our lives, which I’d like to…
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Continue reading →: 10 resurrection applications pt 2
The resurrection is the starting point for setting expectations for the Christian life. I get this from Romans 6:4. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk…
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Continue reading →: a dumb t-shirt
The cashier at Costco was flaunting her foolishness. Large, colorful font adorned the front of her shirt spelling, “Just be a kind person”. And then in smaller print below it, “It’s really not that hard.” Gee whiz, I thought. Someone needs to spread the good news! It turns out that…
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Continue reading →: the Samson argument for Trump
In his conversations on university campuses, Charlie Kirk would sometimes compare Donald Trump to the biblical character of Samson. Kirk’s basic argument seemed to be that although Samson was a very flawed individual, he is still mentioned as someone who was commended for his faith in Hebrews 11, and God…
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Continue reading →: hymns are worldly
Many hymns as we know them today would have been considered worldly and not acceptable for worship by many church fathers and influential Christians. Of course this is not because there is anything anti-Christian about singing. Jesus and his apostles sung hymns. But when it comes to modern worship, it’s…
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Continue reading →: proof does not a Christian make
If a skeptic ever tells you that they would become a Christian if only God provided what they deem to be sufficient proof, you have good reasons to be skeptical about such a claim. I think such a claim relies on an assumption which is not always true and also…
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Continue reading →: a novel idea for an argument for God’s existence
Could the fine-tuning argument be wielded in a slightly different way? I have in mind the simple observation that for all of human history as far as I can tell, the debate has yet to be settled. Intelligent people on one side affirm God’s existence. Intelligent people on another side…
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Continue reading →: how good is it to be with Jesus? pt 3
So far I’ve answered with: Now I’d like to add: it is fullness of joy. John 15:11 might communicate this the best, but there a number of scriptures that could be used on this point. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and…
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Continue reading →: the resurrection isn’t just a receipt
Maybe you’ve heard this analogy as well. It goes like this: When Jesus was raised from the dead, it was God providing a receipt saying that the price for sins has been paid in full. This is incomplete at best. We know as much based on 1 Corinthians 15:17 alone.…
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Continue reading →: the joy of Joy to the World
What is the “joy” of Joy to the World? Most people familiar with the song today know it as a Christmas carol and might assume the answer to be about the incarnation, but it wasn’t originally that way. It was initially just a poem, and not even a Christmas poem.…
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Continue reading →: does God merely allow bad things?
When it comes to addressing God’s relationship to evil, or not even evil but just unfortunate or unpleasant events, sometimes believers have a tendency to exclusively use very passive words like “allow” or “permit.” But it seems to me that this just isn’t the way Bible describes God’s involvement in…
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Continue reading →: no atonement theology?
Does Luke not have a theology of the atonement? Bart Ehrman, James Dunn, and others have made various claims about the lack of a theology of Jesus’ death atoning for our sins in Luke compared to, for example how Mark and Matthew both describe Jesus’ death as a “ransom for…
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Continue reading →: the apostle paul’s abduction heritage
Long before Paul was dragging Christians off to prison, his ancestors were dragging women away to be their wives. This account comes from the end of the book of Judges, which records a civil war, which is ignited after some men of the tribe of Benjamin rape and kill a…
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Continue reading →: is God good? give thanks.
In an earlier post about the problem of evil, I made a reference to the limits of natural theology. As I was reflecting on that, something new occurred to me that I had never noticed before about what Paul has to say on the matter in Romans 1. When Paul…
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Continue reading →: not a word about the nudity?
The small group that my wife and I attended for a while had decided to work through a study of the book of Isaiah. So far so good. They found a study guide based on the ESV translation and we started into it, and it all seemed well and fine…
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Continue reading →: big gap in your bible story
Creation. Fall. Redemption. Restoration. Maybe you’ve heard it before. I don’t know how long it’s been around but in the religious spheres I find myself orbiting, it’s fairly hard to miss. I think perhaps it goes hand in hand with the emphasis on understanding the big picture of the bible…
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Continue reading →: no man is greater than his prayer life
This saying is largely associated with Leonard Ravenhill, who may have gotten it from his mentor Samuel Chadwick. For whatever faults it might have in reducing a man down to his prayer life, I think the saying is probably more helpful than not. Any man who thinks he is doing…
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Continue reading →: make a plan and hold it loosely
This is pretty much my advice for all of life. You name it. College, marriage, vocation, birth plans, whatever. Make a plan and hold it loosely. Anything other than that and the Bible has something to say about it. Make a plan and hold it tightly? Many are the plans…
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Continue reading →: Jesus can sympathize with parents
In Hebrews chapter four we read that Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. That is an encouraging and worshipful thought. But it also seems to beg the question, just how well he can sympathize, exactly? Obviously, the circumstances and details of Jesus’ life experience were not identical to…
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Continue reading →: people who want to know God’s will
I’ve always thought it very interesting any time I come upon somebody who is very keen on discovering the will of God for their lives or for a specific decision. Should I buy this house? Should I marry this person? Should I take this job? Of course, underneath all those…
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Continue reading →: religion is just health and wellness now
Or is health and wellness a religion? I can’t really seem to sort it out myself. Once upon a time, meditation was something for eastern religions, now it’s a wellness activity promoted by your employer. Who needs a church when you can just subscribe and be a part of a…
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Continue reading →: the measure of your faith matters
The most common rebuke Jesus utters in the gospels is directed at people for their lack of faith. Interestingly enough, I can’t recall ever hearing a pastor issuing a similar word of challenge from the pulpit. This is a curious aspect of my experience in evangelicalism. Have you ever noticed…
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Continue reading →: God and the island of knowledge
Debates about the origin of the universe often hit a dead end when one person posits an eternal creator God. What seems reasonable to the believer comes off as even more problematic to the unbeliever. Take Richard Dawkins for example, who objects to theism because he thinks suggesting that God…
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Continue reading →: 2nd & 4th Corinthians
The books of the Bible that we know as 1 & 2 Corinthians were probably the second and either the third or fourth letters he wrote to the church in Corinth. We can piece this together fairly easily from what we do have even if we don’t have an exhaustive…
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Continue reading →: monthly mormon musing #1
I decided to read the Book of Mormon. It makes me think back to when I had the opportunity to visit the Temple Square in Salt Lake City some years ago. I was thumbing through it as a I was talking to a member of the church and I couldn’t…
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Continue reading →: what luke 14 and larry david have in common
I read the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14 recently and couldn’t help but laugh at its perfect comedic structure. Many were invited to the banquet, but: No additional explanation needed, I guess. I think Larry David could relate. As he asks in his standup, “Who do you…
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Continue reading →: sinners in the hands of an angry God
I recently finished reading Jonathan Edwards’ most famous sermon out loud from start to finish for the first time. I figured it was worth reading, if for no other reason than as an academic exercise because of its importance to American religious history. Here are a few brief observations. Firstly,…
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Continue reading →: why God’s “atrocities” in the OT don’t move me
As I was sitting in church with my mind wandering while the pastor was preaching, I realized why God’s so called bad behavior in the OT doesn’t do much for me. I’m not left with any good alternatives. Even if I could be convinced that God is capricious and cruel…
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Continue reading →: the irony of soul sleep
Most Christian traditions today teach that upon death believers immediately enter into the presence of the Lord. But there is another view, prominent among Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and even some Protestants that says the soul goes to sleep in a manner of speaking and waits for the promised resurrection.…
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Continue reading →: calling the qualified and qualifying the called
Perhaps you’ve heard it before: God does not call those who are equipped, He equips those whom He has called. This little Christian aphorism is attributed to the British evangelist Smith Wigglesworth but has since been echoed by many a Christian leader and pastor. I heard it again this morning…
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Continue reading →: 10 resurrection applications pt 3: kick the bucket list
The first fruits of the resurrection and the promise of its future fulness teaches us that an embodied existence in a physical, material world in not a one-and-done thing. We don’t spend some years on earth in a body and then go on to spend eternity as a spirit. If…
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Continue reading →: that time God was going to kill Moses
If you’re not familiar with it, it’s found in Exodus chapter 4, and it is as jarring as it is brief. I recently listened to a recording of Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser taking his best stab at explaining what in the world is going on. Here’s my condensed version…
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Continue reading →: deathbed victory party
On December 22, 1899 D.L Moody died a death that was described by those who were there as a moment of profound joy, anticipation, and victory. Moody reportedly said, “Earth recedes; heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no valley here. God is calling…
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Continue reading →: trusting God is a two-sided coin
Trusting God is a two-sided coin. When the topic comes up, I usually just hear about one side and for good reason. Preachers and leaders rightly remind us of God’s trustworthiness, of his character, and how he’s always faithful to keep his promises. But there is another side to it.…
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Continue reading →: have you ever read the bible?
According to a Religious Landscape Study (RLS) from Pew Research, 62% of Americans claim they are Christian. As many people already know, this number is down from what it was 10 or 15 years ago, but what I find interesting is when you compare that number to the numbers regarding…
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Continue reading →: a one sentence theology of swearing
An article by Tim Shorey at The Gospel Coalition provided a helpful perspective on swearing. It contained a sentence that has lodged itself in my memory and which completely crystallized the issue. There’s a reason we never hear anyone say … ‘It’s hot as a nazi oven out there’ The…
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Continue reading →: the blind religion of tolerant bumper stickers
As I was exiting a parking lot the other day I noticed a car with a bumper sticker that said, “God is too big to fit into one religion.” The irony was not lost on me. Here’s a person who has surveyed all the religions and concluded that God doesn’t…
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Continue reading →: sam harris makes me laugh
I had the pleasure of this Sam Harris video showing up on my YouTube feed the other day. I can’t say I’m very familiar with his work. I only know about Sam Harris from his association with the new atheism back almost 20 years ago or so. In the video,…
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Continue reading →: turn on your spiritual either/or detectors
My spiritual either/or detector seems to be picking up more activity these days. I can’t help but notice in church hearing various pastors and leaders sometimes make comments which, in my estimation, unnecessarily pit one thing against another. It seems like the person is usually trying too hard to sound…
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Continue reading →: an inherent problem of the modern world
If you open your Bible to the book of Proverbs and start reading, it won’t take long before you notice that one important aspect to biblical wisdom is a certain sort of slowness. A slowness to anger for example, models the very character of God and is commended throughout scripture.…
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Continue reading →: reforming celibacy
Like any good evangelical, I’m no expert on church history. So I was recently intrigued to discover a lesser-known effect of the reformation, which is how it shaped Christian thought on celibacy among clergy. In the early church, married clergy was somewhat common. In the gospels we see that Peter…
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Continue reading →: no more prayer (request) meetings
If you need a sure-fire way to ruin a good prayer meeting, turn it into a prayer request meeting. Or as I unaffectionately call them, “share and care with prayer.” I’m sure the devil probably tracks the official statistics on this but I’m confident that on the list of things…
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Continue reading →: i might be accidentally greek orthodox
That’s not to say I’m going full theosis. But I can certainly resonate with any tradition that emphasizes a participation in the life of God. The more I read the New Testament the more I’m keenly aware of how it talks about participating or sharing in the life of God…
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Continue reading →: the strongest arguments against God
In my opinion, the strongest argument against God is probably the existence of evil. After that, I think the argument from the existence of non-resistant non-believers (divine hiddenness) is intriguing. But I realized not too long ago that there is something very important to notice about them. They share a…
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Continue reading →: the new testament is the old testament
The more I read my bible, the more I realize how much of the New Testament is the Old Testament. Even in books that may not directly quote or refer to a specific Old Testament passage, there is almost always an allusion to an OT theme. Consider the following: The…
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Continue reading →: moses and my grandma
My grandma turned 100 years old today. Her remarkable longevity, her relative mental sharpness, and her unwavering faith bring to mind this verse from Deuteronomy 34 describing Moses at the end of his life. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.…
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Continue reading →: complementarian, egalitarian, & a middle ground
Probably no other passage is more divisive and at the heart of many people’s views regarding the role of women and teaching in the church than 1 Timothy 2:12. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet…
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Continue reading →: popular music in 1000 BC
After David struck down Goliath and was returning home, 1 Samuel 18 tells us that “the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing” (1 Samuel 18:6) and the refrain they sang was: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” Now this…
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Continue reading →: how good is it to be with Jesus? pt 1
This will be the first of a series of posts trying to answer the title question. Just how good is it to be with Jesus? My first answer is this: It’s way better than being the world’s greatest influencer. I get this from Philippians 1:23. The apostle Paul, who is…
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Continue reading →: what reformed leaders miss about worship
Doug Wilson, John Piper, and John Macarthur are all eminently more qualified to speak on biblical worship than me. Especially MacArthur, now that he’s worshipping in heaven. But I can’t help but notice a common thread between the three of them that leaves me feeling like they missed the mark.…
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Continue reading →: fear is contagious
An interesting verse in Deuteronomy 20 highlights an interesting phenomenon sometimes nowadays called emotional contagion. It comes in a section of laws for warfare and instead of commanding men to fight in spite of whatever fears they might have, it commands the opposite. “And the officers shall speak further to…
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Continue reading →: my younger self would be disappointed
I’ve been inclined towards apologetics for most of my life. I like to muse over the arguments for and against God, Christianity and the like. The other day I realized my younger self would probably be disappointed by what is for me turning into one of the most compelling reasons…
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Continue reading →: i don’t care for the platinum rule
Many people know or are familiar with some version of the golden rule which says to treat others the way you want to be treated. But then came along a supposed new and improved version called the platinum rule which says to treat others the way they would like to…
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Continue reading →: is Gideon’s fleece a model for us?
Is Gideon a model for modern believers? He is included in a list of saints who are commended for their faith in Hebrews 11. The story of his fleece is well known, and the phrase “putting out a fleece” is a common idiom for seeking signs and confirmations today just…
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Continue reading →: bart ehrman’s assumption
Bart Ehrman has said that it is virtually inconceivable that if Jesus were God, he would not go around openly claiming it. But since the earliest gospels don’t record him saying such things as are found in John, then he must not have said them, so the argument goes. But…
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Continue reading →: slavery in the bible: why I don’t dwell on it
The issue of slavery and the Bible is a fairly common objection to Christianity. It used to bother me a little bit and occupy my interest but nowadays I’ve moved on for a couple reasons. First, in Matthew 19 we find Jesus conceding that the law is not the ideal…
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Continue reading →: you will be justified by your words
Admittedly this is a provocative title for all the protestants out there. But I would hope that it would also be recognized as the words of Jesus from Matthew 12. But how can this be? Is this in conflict with being justified by faith? Here’s what Jesus said to the…
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Continue reading →: on destroying arguments and lofty opinions
I like being right–fact checking, logical argument, debate, a commitment to the truth, intellectual rigor. These are things that interest me. But I fear today that these capacities of the church have been stolen and tossed entirely into the realm of American culture and politics. What especially confuses me is…
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Continue reading →: a white man’s religion
I’ve heard it said before that Christianity is a white man’s religion. But of course, anybody with a brain or access to the internet can quickly find out that statement is dumb and laughable. What’s actually closer to the truth is that atheism or agnosticism is a white man’s religion.…
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Continue reading →: more vice & more virtue
I’m not as bad as Moses. Or David. Or Abraham. I’ve never impulsively murdered someone or committed adultery or lied in a way that put my wife in danger. If I’m honest with myself, these are the types of thoughts I’ll think. But, if I continue to be honest with…
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Continue reading →: am I becoming more like Jesus?
A while back I wrote down a list of questions as I was reflecting on my transformation from one degree of glory to the next. Here they are:
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Continue reading →: did jesus go to hell?
Did Jesus go to hell after he died? I actually don’t want to try to answer the question in this post. Instead, I’d like to offer ten questions that probably need to get answered first in order to be able to answer this question:
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Continue reading →: death knell for Jesus mythicists
There is a fringe branch of historical Jesus scholarship known as Jesus mythicists made up of those who doubt or deny the historical Jesus altogether. Perhaps the two most well-known people holding this view are Richard Carrier and Robert Price. Such a view is historically dubious at best. Bart Ehrman…
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Continue reading →: god of the gaps
The phrase “god of the gaps” makes me think of Christian vs atheist discourse at its worse: silly, superficial, and uninformed. It’s as if certain nonbelievers think the Christian conception of God is like Poseidon and ever since we learned about tectonic plates, we put all the sacred tridents in…
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Continue reading →: jesus isn’t much of a salesperson
His sales pitch is very short (Matthew 4:19). He intentionally speaks in obfuscating ways (Mark 4:11). He seems to go out of his way to set seemingly impossible standards for following him (Luke 14:26). The things he says do in fact turn away many of his disciples (John 6:66). He…
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Continue reading →: how good is it to be with Jesus? pt 2
I started this series of posts by first saying that to be with Jesus is far better than being the world’s greatest influencer. I’ll continue it with a simple reflection on something else Paul has to say. Being with Jesus is the ultimate homecoming. Yes, we are of good courage,…
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Continue reading →: is Adam’s guilt applied to me?
I have my doubts. But such doubts mean I’m largely swimming against the current in the mostly reformed waters I’ve swam in for most of my life. I believe it’s referred to as federal headship, and my understanding is that it’s the idea that Adam’s guilt is directly imputed to…
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Continue reading →: the post-heart era of speech
I can’t help but wonder if we’re living in a world where words are becoming increasingly utilitarian. That is, words are viewed not as something that reflects who you are, but rather something that you use. Such a view treats speech like a tool to get what you want, whether…
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Continue reading →: meaninglessness is the key to boredom
I was going on a small rant one morning to my wife after recently finishing reading Alice in Wonderland to my kids the night before. I was explaining to her that I didn’t care for the book because in spite of its supposedly whimsical, magical, and wonderful nature, I did…
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Continue reading →: who wrote the book of Isaiah?
Isaiah did. More interestingly though, we can ask, how much of it did he write? The question comes up because of how different chapters 1-39 seem to be compared to chapters 40-66. For example, Assyria was a major power in Isaiah’s day, and it gets mentioned often in chapters 1-39,…
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Continue reading →: when seeing Jesus in all of scripture goes wrong
I stopped attending a church once because there was just a little too much Jesus. At least, as far as their hermeneutics went. Don’t get me wrong, the scriptures witness about Jesus (John 5:39, Luke 24:27). But my wife and I kept noticing oddities in the preaching here and there…
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Continue reading →: the problem is the fool
I like Proverbs 26:4-5. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. The problem is the fool. The fool is going to make you like him if you answer…
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Continue reading →: what does the problem of evil achieve?
Epicurus states the problem of evil as “If God is willing to prevent evil but not able, then God is impotent; if able but not willing, God is malevolent; if both able and willing, why does evil exist?” Let’s try to grant, for a moment, the success of the argument.…
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Continue reading →: the stupidity of dating a non-believer
A friend once told me about a new believer in his small group. It seemed to be going okay for him, but one difficulty was the fact that he seemed to insist on continuing a relationship with a woman who was not a believer. My friend asked me what I…
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Continue reading →: a problem for exclusivists
I am not the first and I will not be the last to ponder the question, “but what about those who never hear the gospel?” While Christians broadly agree that a person can only be saved by the atoning work of Jesus, there is disagreement over whether a person must…
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Continue reading →: how much is your Bible worth?
I recently bought a bible for $4.49 plus tax. It was strange moment as I sat there in my chair. I thought about all the meticulous copying and preserving and sacrifice made by so many people over so many years and here I could get my own copy for less…
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Continue reading →: george whitefield was a lousy husband
I read a biography of Whitefield a while back. It spent much time celebrating him and his role in the Great Awakening, but I don’t recall it spending much time dwelling over Whitefield’s shortcomings as a husband. Things got off to a swell start when he preached twice daily during…
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Continue reading →: a unique spin on the prodigal son
I emailed the story of the prodigal son to a non-Christian friend once because it was relevant to an earlier conversation we had. I must admit, I was not fully ready for his response: Sounds like if there was a living wage standard in place – for struggling farm workers…
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Continue reading →: my main gripe with jehovah’s witnesses
I’ve taken the time to chat with Jehovah’s witnesses a handful of times. I like talking to them. It seems to me that we have more in common than I do with the average secular person on my block. We’re both reading the bible after all. That seems like a…
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Continue reading →: the tower of AI
AI is an idol. And I don’t mean in the “good thing become god thing Keller-esque” sense of the word. I mean literally, it is now an idol. If you’re not already aware, allow me to introduce you to Way of the Future (WOTF). It is the first IRS recognized…
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Continue reading →: the bible’s most memorized verse was mistranslated?
The most well-known verse from all the Bible might be John 3:16. It also looks like it’s probably not been translated as well as it could have been over the years. For the majority of the history of the western church, the phrase “only begotten” was how most bible readers…
