“Love often manifests itself in giving people what they can’t appreciate and don’t want, and
in demanding from them precisely what they most want to retain for themselves.” — Tom
- Home
- What We’re Doing Here
- F A Q
- Anonymous Asks
- Apocrypha-lypso
- Book Reviews
- The Commentariat Speaks
- DAMWWTIM
- 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?
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Freedom: The False and the True
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Universalism = InterpretationFail
Monday, April 28, 2014
Christians and the Media: Field Day
“The truth is that there are some so-called Christians who quite closely mirror the Christian characters we watch on television and film. They’re loud and proud and angry in God. They stare down their “opponents” with judgmental eyes and damning language. They protest funerals and vomit epithets at people they’ve deemed sinners.
And on some level, most of us are guilty of some of this type of behavior. Maybe not to those extremes, but we too judge, condemn and feel “better than,” while refusing to admit our own faults. For the more dogmatic Christians and for us, it doesn’t matter that how we behave, how we treat people, how void we are of love and grace is a direct and vicious contradiction of everything the Bible teaches us of God and His ways.”
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The End of the Family Line
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology VI: Everybody’s Going
“We believe in universal salvation, the idea that there is no such thing as eternal hell or annihilation because God has planned the universe to produce a positive outcome for all people of all times.”
Friday, April 25, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
How Depraved Can We Be?
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Shrimp Skewers and Fellowship
He knew where they were, of course, but when He called them He wanted them to understand that fellowship was broken. In verse 11 He asks, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” That beautiful fellowship that had been part and parcel of the garden is shattered. Adam and Eve have fashioned loincloths for themselves because they have this sudden realization that they’re naked. It never bothered them before that moment. They literally had nothing to hide from God, and suddenly something has changed. There are things they wish God did not know about them.
Sound a bit familiar?
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Christians and the Law: Repercussions
“And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ”.
But what were the consequences of the Apostles’ attempts to deal with the controversy?
When the meeting at Jerusalem concluded, Barnabas, Paul and their new companions Judas and Silas promptly carried the apostolic letter to the church at Antioch, where it was received with great rejoicing.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Good Friday, Tax Collectors and Sinners
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology V: Heaven Is Boring
“… if there is a heaven, and right now I am sure hoping there is, I like to think my grandfather is just making the turn at nine. A smile on his face from ear to ear because he can walk carrying his own golf bag. His eyesight that was taken from him in the early 90s is back and he doesn't see the world in shadows anymore. That his hearing, taken from him at about the time as his sight has returned. He can hear the birds singing in the trees and the sound of his persimmon driver compressing a golf ball 300 yards down the middle of the fairway.”
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Eden: The Original Plan
Friday, April 18, 2014
The Millennial Kingdom and the Blame Game
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Dismembering the Church
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Harlequin Romances, Detective Fiction and the Essence of Prophecy
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Scientific Materialism and The Good Wife
Monday, April 14, 2014
Calvinism: Rotten TULIPs
Sunday, April 13, 2014
The Garden of Eden: Stardust
I understand, scientifically, that appears to be the case: we are formed from the same sort of heavy materials and elements that form stars. So I think, scientifically, they were on to something.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Inbox: Practical Sanctification
Or maybe I just wasn't listening as carefully back then.
“Sanctification therefore is not principally an experience: it is God using the truth, or God using His Word — and the Holy Spirit bringing it to us, opening our understanding of it, and then enabling us to apprehend it. We are then to take this truth and apply it to ourselves or to our lives day by day.”
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Christians and the Law: Answering the Challenge
“And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ”.
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
A Further Thought about Screaming Kids
Screaming Kids and the Harvest of Righteousness
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Christians and the Law: Controversy
“And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ”.
“A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus ... by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified ... if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Galatians 2:16,21)
Monday, April 07, 2014
God’s Sovereignty, Man’s Responsibility and the Two Witnesses
“… what they disagree about is how prescriptive His management of the universe has to be in order for that to be true. Does He have to mandate the movement of every molecule that twitches? Or is it possible that God allows human beings some measure of freedom of choice and action? How “tight” does sovereignty have to be in order to remain sovereignty?”
Let’s suppose in analyzing the chapter that its words are intended to be taken at face value; that is to say, that when John writes “if anyone would”, it means “if anyone would” (as opposed to something along the lines of “if the sovereign God compels anyone to”).
If we do that, is it possible to see the sovereignty of God on display at the same time as man’s will?
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Tolerating Evil: Moral Relativism and the Slippery Pole to Hell
Saturday, April 05, 2014
Christians and the Law: Why the Confusion?
“And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ ”.
Friday, April 04, 2014
Culture, Politics and Christianity
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Relativism: Facts, Foolishness and Faith
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Tolerance and Relativism
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
On Christians and Hypocrisy
When people say it — and they do — they are often thinking of unscrupulous TV evangelist-types whose greed and hypocrisy have been publicly exposed, or perhaps their own bitter personal experience with a person who claimed to be a follower of Christ but acted in a very un-Christlike way.
It is certainly a great shame when people claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus but live lives of self-centredness and prejudice. Often these people make the matter worse by assuming an air of false piety and loudly condemning those who do not match up to their lofty standards of conduct — standards they themselves do not even follow.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Believers That Sin & A God In Whom Is No Darkness At All
Sunday, March 30, 2014
All Things Dull and Ugly: Monty Python and the Millennium
All creatures short and squat
All things rude and nasty
The Lord God made the lot
Each beastly little squid
Who made the spiky urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did”
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology IV: Christians Will Spend Eternity In Heaven
Friday, March 28, 2014
Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot and the Infinite-Personal God
“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena … Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity — in all this vastness — there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”
— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
To which I say, wait, what?
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology III: Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Dear Preacher: On Calvinism and Pride
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology II: Saint Peter and the Pearly Gates
In a previous post I spent a few hundred keystrokes on the things of heaven, trying to point out how very ill-equipped the best of us is to fully comprehend them, even with the aid of the imagery of scripture, since “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
But our inability to fully apprehend everything about heavenly things is not a license to manufacture any old view of heaven wholesale. The only reliable source of knowledge about things outside current human experience is the word of God itself.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Passing Thoughts on Fred Phelps
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Debunking Heavenly Mythology I: Angels are Dead People
Saturday, March 22, 2014
The Things That Are Prepared
Friday, March 21, 2014
On Reorganizing our Concept of Love
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Baal Worship, Howard Cosell and Little Details
“To the earth Baal rained, to the field rained ’Aliy. Sweet to the earth was Baal’s rain; to the field the rain of ’Aliy.”
“In a dream of Beneficent El Benign, a vision of the Creator of Creatures, the skies rained oil, the wadis flowed honey. So I knew that Mighty Baal lives; the Prince, Lord of Earth, exists.”
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 6]
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Heretics and Coffee
Monday, March 17, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 5]
Sunday, March 16, 2014
In Need of Analysis: The “Four Hour” Rule
“John Wesley said that he had a very poor opinion of Christians who did not spend at least 4 hours every day in prayer.”
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Does Christianity Discriminate Against Women? [Part 3]
Friday, March 14, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 4]
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Does Christianity Discriminate Against Women? [Part 2]
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 3]
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Worldviews: Question 3 — Life
Monday, March 10, 2014
Worldviews: Question 2 — Endings
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Worldviews: Question 1 — Origins
Saturday, March 08, 2014
Worldviews: An Introduction
Friday, March 07, 2014
Does Christianity Discriminate Against Women? [Part 1]
Thursday, March 06, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 2]
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
The Purpose of the Sacrifices [Part 1]
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Grief is Not a Sin
Monday, March 03, 2014
Inbox: The Authority of the Servant
“… that I am your servant.” Would another reason for such a request be that the authority of both the servant and his message must be recognized by those to whom he is sent, or what he says will be discounted and he will be perceived as just mouthing off; his message not taken seriously and God’s purpose in sending him frustrated? Paul used a good amount of ink convincing the Corinthians that he had credentials that were no less than those of the twelve [apostles], and was similarly concerned that Timothy’s youth not result in him being despised. Receiving the messenger as having full authority is necessary to receiving the message he delivers.Absolutely. Well said.
Sunday, March 02, 2014
Fifth Business
Saturday, March 01, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Woman in the Pink Coat
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Inbox: The Purpose of the Gospels
Just wanted to pass along a thought on the genealogy of Matthew 1. It’s obviously divided into three sections. A while back, I was impressed by the fact that the main divisions are related to the three main turning points in the kingship of Israel: (a) the first section ends with “David the king” – the first genuine king of Israel (since Saul was from Benjamin and was the “teach Israel a lesson” king); (b) the second section ends with the exile to Babylon – the end of the kingship; and (c) the third section ends with “Jesus who is called Messiah” – the ultimate king of Israel. All of this fits nicely with the fact that Matthew is presenting Christ as the king.
Bible Study 10 — Context [Part 4]
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Without Counsel Plans Fail
Monday, February 24, 2014
10 down, 603 to go ...
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Inbox: Demon Possession and the Church Age
Saturday, February 22, 2014
The Boy in Black Leather
Those of you who are a few years younger than I am, and most, if not all, of the men, can probably relate to that one. I don’t mean that you necessarily know the song, but you’ve almost certainly had the experience.“I was crazy for JackieI was almost ready to saywhen a boy in black leathercame and took Jackie away”— The Waterboys
I had it as a teenager, and oddly enough the girl’s name actually was Jackie, though I can’t remember if the boy who took her away wore black leather or not. Those were the punk rock years, so it’s not improbable.
And, if I am completely truthful, there was more than one “Jackie” over the years, and more than one “boy in black leather”.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Who’s Afraid of Science?
“Science (from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.”
Boiled down to its essence, it is a propaganda hammer used to bludgeon the most malleable minds into what are — today, at least — the most politically acceptable shapes.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Will There Really Be A Millennial Temple? [Part 2]
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Bible Study 09 — Context [Part 3]
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
An Apple for Mr Dalrymple
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Will There Really Be A Millennial Temple? [Part 1]
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Romantic Love is NOT an Inalienable Right
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
In Need of Analysis: Why Christian Music Needs a Dose of Worldliness
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Bible Study 08 — Context [Part 2]
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Leave Scripture Out of It
Friday, February 07, 2014
Insufficient Authority
Thursday, February 06, 2014
In Need of Analysis: Doctrine vs. Practice
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
What’s in a name?
So we’ve enabled anonymous commenting for the time being to make life easier for folks who don’t like leaving their personal info all over the internet.
In Need of Analysis: Wake Up and Smell the Potpourri
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Safely and Painfully Dead
Monday, February 03, 2014
Inbox: What’s this ‘Fellowship’ Thing?
“Not surprisingly, Tom, in light of what you have said so far, I started thinking whether or not there is a word in the Scriptures that describes this special kind of communication that Christians may have with each other. I believe there is. Doesn’t “fellowship” wrap it up neatly? That is, as long as we do not allow its Biblical strength to be diluted by the limited way unbelievers must understand the term, for Christian fellowship has to be experienced before it can be defined. In fact, I confess I find it difficult to define now though I think I can say I have “experiences” of it. But maybe I am looking at it too subjectively — what joy I get out of it. But isn’t that what happened on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:32)? I’m scrambling and hoping you or others will help me to unscramble my thoughts.”
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Bible Study 07 — Context [Part 1]
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Saturday, February 01, 2014
Christians That Need to be Saved
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The Antidote
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”The words “hold together” here are most frequently translated “commend”, or literally “stand with”, and are used of a confirming testimony; that which supports or substantiates something that might otherwise be less solid or demonstrable. The KJV says, “in him all things consist”, which is fine, as long as we don’t conjure the image of the Lord Jesus as some vast being with everything else inside him, because that is not what the apostle is emphasizing here. Rather, he affirms here what is said in Hebrews about the Son; that he “upholds all things by the word of his power”.
(Colossians 1:17)
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
This Explains Why the People I Work With Are Frequently Nicer Than I Am …
“… to suggest that there is no trace of anything good left in man at all is to contradict the Bible. The Bible teaches that we were created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27). That isn’t a reference to our physical appearance, but to a variety of spiritual, moral, emotional, and intellectual attributes. Whatever else it means, it means that we can think, reason, create, love, etc. If “total depravity” means that man is as depraved as possible in every way, then it would mean that the image of God has been utterly obliterated and that an unsaved man retains none of it. This is patently untrue. Unsaved men can think, reason, and create. Unsaved men can even love. Although diminished and corrupted, vestiges of the image of God remain. It is for this reason that the Holy Spirit can say through Peter that Christ “called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet 1:3).
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Command Performance
Monday, January 27, 2014
Bible Study 06 — Comparison [Part 6]
The most recent version of this post is available here.