“I don’t think that I’m a good Christian. I know I’m not. But even if I’m a bad one, I am one.” — Vox Day
- Home
- What We’re Doing Here
- F A Q
- 119
- Anonymous Asks
- Book Reviews
- The Commentariat Speaks
- Doesn’t Always Mean What We Think It Means
- Flyover Country
- How Not to Crash and Burn
- Inbox
- The Language of the Debate
- Letters from the Best Man
- Mining the Minors
- On the Mount
- Quote of the Day
- Recommend-a-blog
- Semi-Random Musings
- That Wacky Old Testament
- Time and Chance
- What Does Your Proof Text Prove?
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Quote of the Day (7)
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Recommend-a-blog (11)
Friday, August 14, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Globalism and Censorship
Thursday, August 13, 2015
“I Looked for a Man …”
Biblically-undocumented servants fill the annals of secular history too — people who gave their lives in the pursuit of God’s work; men like George Mueller or Jim Elliot come to mind. But there are thousands of others who bore the title ‘servant of God’ with distinction by changing the course of nations and standing for God at needful times.
Then there are those of us who are Christians today and aspire to be worthy of the grand title ‘servant of God’ in our generations.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Truth Is Out There
It is tempting to pity those who lived before the earliest recorded books of scripture. What did those poor savages really intuit about God? Without clear direction, wandering around in a fog of unknowing, what were their chances of avoiding the natural negative consequences of their actions during this lifetime? And as far as heaven is concerned, without revelation it’s difficult to make a case that man before the Law (or even under it) could think of eternal life as much more than pipe dream.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
The Time of Their Visitation
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Sunday, August 09, 2015
Colorblindness, Privilege and Inspiration
Saturday, August 08, 2015
When the Holy Spirit is Silent
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Indirect Evidence for Inspiration
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Friday, August 07, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Nonsense That Remains Nonsense
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Go Big, Then Go Home
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Quote of the Day (6)
Tuesday, August 04, 2015
Do You Want to Go Out?
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Monday, August 03, 2015
The Immature Christian
Sunday, August 02, 2015
On the Third Day
Generally speaking, I don’t find fulfilled Bible prophecy a particularly useful tool in evangelism.
Some Christians disagree, of course. If it works for you, that’s great. Carry on. But it must be admitted that many of the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the life of Christ are a little on the obscure side. That is to say, when you look at them in their original context, it is not immediately apparent that they speak of Messiah.
We’re only sure of it because the Holy Spirit plainly states it to be so in the New Testament.
Saturday, August 01, 2015
A Change Is Gonna Come
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: My Favourite Atheist
Pat Condell* |
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Faith, Identity and Growing Up Christian
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Living Under the Blade
The most current version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Christian Escapism and a Time of Trouble Such As Never Has Been
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Leadership: It’s a Dog’s Life
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Help! They Changed My Bible!
Textual criticism is a discipline about which many believers know very little. The average regular churchgoer can probably tell you that the Bible was written primarily in Greek and Hebrew, not English (and the average reasonably intelligent person might simply assume it), but beyond that basic piece of information, how our Bibles came to us is not all that widely understood.
Given the quality of history courses in the average high school since 1970, fewer still know that when we speak of “the originals”, they are not sitting in some airless, climate-controlled museum display case. Would they be shocked to discover such manuscripts no longer exist and have not existed for centuries? Probably not, with a few seconds consideration.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Crazy Uncle
Friday, July 24, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Let’s Make Sure They Hate Us Enough
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Too Much for Sunday School
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
“My Church Believes …”
Monday, July 20, 2015
Doing It the Hard Way
The Wailing Wall: Last vestige of Herod’s temple |
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Failure to Choose is a Choice Too
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Fulfilling or Destroying
Friday, July 17, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Diluting the Faith
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Progressive Revelation and Paradigm Shifts
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Authentic Me
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Forgive or Die
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Dispensing With Dispensations
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Recommend-a-blog (10)
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Enemy Territory
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: American Laodicea
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Thursday, July 09, 2015
Ezekiel and the Future of Palestine
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Wednesday, July 08, 2015
It Ain’t Personal
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Culture War and Surrender
Monday, July 06, 2015
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Media and the Gospel
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Saturday, July 04, 2015
A Hill to Die On
Friday, July 03, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Spirit and Truth
Thursday, July 02, 2015
The Change Is Gonna Do Us Good
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Inbox: Cultural Shenanigans
The role of women in the church is one of those topics that I’ve spent little time examining in this forum for various personal reasons.
But you may remember that despite my general enthusiasm expressed a few weeks back for Frank Viola’s “reimagination” of the church in all its various aspects, I found myself unable to get on board with all his views in the area of church authority and decision-making, and also expressed concerns about what I suspected might be Viola’s view of the role of women in the church (though in the pages of Reimagining Church, he never quite spells it out).
Other than that, I love much of what he has to say.
Monday, June 29, 2015
“I Have a Right ...”
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Minding Our Own Business
The most current version of this post is available here.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Unsanctioned “Churches”
“... fellowship, studying the Word (we’re walking through Ephesians), corporate confession and prayer, and worship through song. The time together is incredibly relaxed with no official format.”That and, oh yeah, “Breaking of Bread”.
Tom: Well, Immanuel Can, maybe you can tell me: How can we put a stop to this sort of thing? I mean, it hasn’t been approved!
Friday, June 26, 2015
Who’s Afraid of Science?
[Originally presented February 1, 2014] |
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Vessels of Another Sort
[Originally presented February 1, 2015] |
In short, dictionaries will not help anywhere near as much as meditation.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Limits of Toleration
[Originally presented February 14, 2014] |
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ ”
We live in a society that enshrines “tolerance” as its highest virtue. At least, it thinks it does.
But it’s a weird conception of tolerance. Modern “tolerance” has less to do with allowing people the right to free choice, and more to do with pretending that you actually approve of and admire all their choices — whatever they may be. You’re never to contradict anyone, tell them they’re wrong or that what they’re doing is bad; no matter what, you’re to smile and pretend it’s all sunshine and roses.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Debunking Heavenly Mythology II: Saint Peter and the Pearly Gates
[Originally presented March 25, 2014] |
Monday, June 22, 2015
How Depraved Can We Be?
[Originally presented April 24, 2014] |
That’s a good question.
Our society is clearly messed up. It can be sick enough to think that promiscuity is normal, debauchery is freedom, and that homosexuality is love. It can be twisted enough to call killing the elderly “dignity” and butchering infants in utero “choice”. Morally, things look pretty bad.
That’s what the dictionary definition of “depraved” is. It means “very morally bad”.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Opting Out
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Atheists in Foxholes
Friday, June 19, 2015
Dear Preacher: On Calvinism and Pride
[Originally presented March 26, 2014] |
Thursday, June 18, 2015
The End of Evangelism
[Originally presented March 10, 2015] |
Is the Age of Evangelism Ending?
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Repent or Perish
[Originally presented July 12, 2014] |
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Scientific Materialism and the Good Wife
[Originally presented April 15, 2014] |
Monday, June 15, 2015
Promiscuous Freedom and Enslavement
[Originally presented April 11, 2014] |
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Inbox: Dawkins and Calvin Go to Hell
“Our Lord spoke three parables in Luke 15. They form His three-pronged answer to the criticism, ‘this man receiveth sinners and eats with them’ found at the end of the previous chapter. Jesus protests that anything lost (a sheep, a coin, or a son) evokes grief but the finding of them calls for celebration. I have heard subpoints of teaching made from the illustration of the two sons which miss that emphasis and I remember a discussion as to whether the prodigal was a lost sinner or a backslidden Christian!”
Tom Takes a Breather
That’s so we can use our next ten weekdays to count down ...
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Fatal Friends: Dawkins and Calvin
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Snakes, Mistakes and Better Takes
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Quote of the Day (5)
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Between Boredom and Bedlam
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
The Power of Two
How do we make decisions in the church? What is the teaching of the New Testament?
In his book Reimagining Church, Frank Viola contends that the normal method of making major decisions in the church is by consensus, not just of leadership but of every believer in a local church. (You can find my review here.)
He uses the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 as his sole scriptural evidence.
Monday, June 08, 2015
Reimagining Decision-Making
How does your church go about making decisions?
Perhaps you don’t actually know. In very large churches, the process of deciding what is going to be done may be quite opaque to those who meet there. Where there is a very distinct hierarchy in place, perhaps decisions are made unilaterally, or maybe they are initiated by a ‘head pastor’ or equivalent and signed off on by a board or council of elders. Then again, maybe they are arrived at by discussion among elders and presented fait accompli to the congregation. Or perhaps opinions are solicited and discussed, and a decision is later made with the promise that “all voices have been heard and all opinions considered”.
Maybe there are lots of ugly politics involved that nobody really wants to talk about. I don’t know your church, so I won’t presume.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Reimagining Church
I wouldn’t normally be the type to start writing a positive review before completely finishing a book, but I’ve been enjoying Frank Viola’s Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity immensely.
Viola is not merely a theorist. In 1988, he left what he calls “institutional Christianity” and began meeting in “organic churches”.
Organic churches are not the latest vegan trend. They are local gatherings mapped to what we read in the New Testament. They seek to practice Christianity as it was practiced in the first century, minus any details that were merely a product of the culture(s) in which the early church grew and thrived. The result is a church that, at least on paper, seems both relevant and authentically “New Testament” in ways I’ve never seen before.
Saturday, June 06, 2015
What Sort of Heart?
“What sort of a heart could approve of eternal death for some? The doctrine of Universal Salvation teaches that all will have eternal life, including Satan and the demons. And that one day, all will have the same nature as God. What sort of a heart could not approve of Universal Salvation, eternal life for all?”
It boils down to this: anyone who wouldn’t grant eternal bliss, joy, happiness and God-likeness to Satan, Hitler, Stalin and every liar and murderer in human history that hates and rejects the Son of God is, well ... insufficiently morally developed.
Friday, June 05, 2015
Too Hot to Handle: Hmm … What Should I Wear to Church Today?
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Keeping It Relevant
Is this old enough for you? |
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
Get the Message
“I am the Lord.”
That’s Ezekiel summed up in four words.
God has a point he wishes to make, and we are wise to hear it in a day when most recognize no final authority beyond their own opinions, prejudices and desires.
The phrase “they will know” (or “you will know”) that “I am the Lord” occurs 72 times in Ezekiel. Only 11 of its first 39 chapters don’t have it. It’s the bottom line to every declaration God makes to his people through the prophet. It’s a message we need to internalize at the very core of our beings. Until that happens, we do not really understand our place in the universe.
Without it, our assessment of reality is warped and disproportionate. We think it’s all about us.
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
The Sound of Salesmen
Monday, June 01, 2015
Blink and You’ll Miss It
Or more specifically, did his prophesied return actually take place in AD 70 when, under Titus, the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, eventually conquering the city and sacking the temple, thereby fulfilling the word of the Lord about it that “not one stone will be left upon another”?
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Elders Are Older
... though not necessarily THIS old. |
Sorry, that’s my understanding of New Testament teaching. It is, evidently, not the understanding of many of my fellow believers.
Defining Terms