The most recent version of this post is available here.
“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
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Thursday, March 05, 2020
Wednesday, March 04, 2020
John Piper’s God
John Piper’s God is not someone I find particularly
appealing.
Piper’s Calvinist determinism makes his version of heaven a
scary place where every microscopic detail of human existence is examined, and from
which God himself administers rough justice to his subjects on the spot as he
sees fit, to believers and unbelievers alike, sometimes in the form of
really bad weather.
A rash of tornados across the U.S. in 2012 prompted Piper to
express his opinion in this post.
Labels:
Determinism
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John Piper
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Judgment
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Neo-Calvinism
Tuesday, March 03, 2020
Of Generals and Foot Soldiers
“Seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”
Here is a tall order, no? How exactly do we seek God’s
kingdom?
Oh, I know we all have some kind of mental picture in view
when we pray “Thy kingdom come.” I certainly always do. During the eight years
of Barack Obama’s stewardship of the U.S., I regularly imagined the man’s
surprise at getting his just desserts one day. I look forward to all
deceivers being shown to the world for exactly what they are: right, left and
apolitical alike. I picture the enthroned Christ dispensing justice, the
wolf lying down with the lamb, and ultimate truth, love and discernment
dictating all aspects of world governance.
There are all kinds of ways we may picture the kingdom. But
seeking it? That’s something else. It seems like the sort of aspiration in
which one’s reach easily exceeds one’s grasp.
Labels:
Kingdom
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Luke
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Spiritual Warfare
Monday, March 02, 2020
Anonymous Asks (82)
“Should I wait for God to bring me a boyfriend?”
Let’s apply this “wait for God” principle to a few of life’s other important questions and consider
how much sense it makes, as well as the mostly likely outcome of waiting:
“Should I wait for God to deliver dinner?” (Starvation)
“Should I wait for God to provide me with a job?” (Chronic unemployment)
“Should I wait for God to wash my car?” (An unspeakably filthy vehicle)
Labels:
Anonymous Asks
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Providence
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Relationships
Sunday, March 01, 2020
Crazed Swine on a Gerasene Hillside
We do not have a whole lot of clear teaching in the Bible
about demons and precisely how they operate. It is evident from the various
accounts we have in the gospels that demons are capable of indwelling, tormenting
and periodically controlling humans who become susceptible to them, but we do
not know much more than this for certain.
Under what conditions do demons come and indwell a person? Where do
they go when they haven’t got a human being to play with? Why do they so
terribly fear the abyss, and what makes them crave human hosts while methodically working away at their destruction? None of these things are spelled out for us.
Labels:
Demon Possession
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Demons
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Luke
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Time and Chance (25)
As I write this, I haven’t had breakfast yet. I will shortly. There’s food in the fridge, and money in the bank if I opt to step out for a bite.
That covers this morning, and this afternoon, and maybe even the rest of this week. However, if I were to stop going to work, I would have a problem before long. The refrigerator would be empty, and the bank balance would dwindle until it hit rock bottom.
Labels:
Bread
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Ecclesiastes
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Time and Chance
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Work
Friday, February 28, 2020
Too Hot to Handle: Open Just A Bit Too Far
In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.
We’ve talked a lot about Calvinism here over the past two years. We have not
talked very much about Open Theism, also referred to as Dynamic Omniscience,
which might be said to be Calvinism’s very near-opposite.
By the time the Evangelical Theological Society adopted the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 2006, their decade-long internal debate over Dynamic Omniscience had pretty much petered out. ETS president Tom Schreiner says that for the ETS at least, the debate has
“simmered down”.
And yet today the Global Christian Center still lists what it calls the
“Open Theism Controversy” among its nine most important issues facing the evangelical church.
Tom: This particular idea about God is clearly not going away. In a nutshell, Immanuel Can, what is Open Theism?
Labels:
Greg Boyd
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Neo-Calvinism
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Open Theism
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Recycling
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Too Hot to Handle
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
From the Cat’s Perspective
I’m sitting in the vet’s
office with a very unhappy young feline. She was okay in the car; a little curious
but not overly concerned. Now her tail is fluffed up like a feather duster and
she’s growling, a sound I’ve never heard from her before. The instrument poking
into her ears was bad enough, the prodding and squeezing of her abdomen was
worse, and then came the rabies shot and the growling if you accidentally touch
her where it now hurts.
To top things off,
this is only the preliminary round. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s getting
spayed in two weeks. That’s when things will really get ugly.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
What Scripture Doesn’t Tell Us
Yesterday in this space I mulled over the question of whether or not pets go to heaven. The post was mostly speculative. Why? Because, as is the case with so many other topics of interest to us in this life, the Bible simply doesn’t tell us. God chose not to weigh in on that one, at least not directly. Sure, there are hints and clues and principles in scripture which we can draw on to lead us to some more-or-less-satisfactory conclusion, but nowhere do we find plain teaching that settles the matter beyond controversy.
This is true of many, many other subjects of interest to Christians today.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Anonymous Asks (81)
“Will my pet go to heaven?”
As a pet owner and lover, I have no small vested interest in the question myself. That said, given what I know of God, if it turns out that my much-loved critters do not appear beside me in glory one day, I will not be turning to my heavenly Father to complain. There is simply too much about my own consciousness that I do not know with certainty for me to speculate with any confidence about animal consciousness and its eternal value.
Some things we simply have to leave to God. If there is a distinction to be made between the concepts of faith and trust, I would not be able to tell you what it is. Among Christians, then, who have already committed our own selves to Christ for salvation, a little trust on these smaller matters is in order.
Labels:
Anonymous Asks
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Creation
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Heaven
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Are the Critics Right?
Christianity has been called a crutch, an opiate, a panacea and “wish-fulfillment”. The prevailing theory among its detractors is that we are fragile flowers who can’t cope with life and surround ourselves with comforting platitudes to escape having to face up to harsh realities like “We are all alone in the universe”, “Nobody loves me”, “There is no such thing as justice” and “Death is the end of everything”.
Additionally, we are often told people cling to Christianity because they can’t think for themselves and need to be told what to do.
These are arguments that may initially appear to hold water.
Labels:
Christianity
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Scepticism
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Time and Chance (24)
When he fell in battle with the
Philistines, his enemies decapitated him and fastened his body to the wall of the
city of Beth-Shan, publicly degrading him in death. And yet, as willful, proud
and chaotic as Saul’s reign over Israel had been, the courageous men of
Jabesh-Gilead came, probably at no small risk to themselves, took his body,
burned it, buried the bones and fasted seven days in memory of him.
As in most other nations, an ancient
Israelite burial was not merely a matter of being dumped into a hole in the
ground and covered by dirt. There were people who cared enough about Saul to
make it evident to the entire nation — not to mention its enemies — that
their king’s life, position and person were worthy of their loyalty and appreciation.
So Saul received a proper interment with the customary ritual observances.
Labels:
Burial
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Death
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Ecclesiastes
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Time and Chance
Friday, February 21, 2020
Too Hot to Handle: Five Questions About the Next Generation
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Labels:
Discipleship
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Too Hot to Handle
Thursday, February 20, 2020
On Being Taken In
The most recent version of this post is available here.
Labels:
Scepticism
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Soren Kierkegaard
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
The Things That Are God’s
Most people use the expression “Render unto Caesar” as a slightly more literary way of saying “Pay your taxes.” The phrase is so universally recognizable it has served as the title of an episode of the Hercules TV cartoon, at least one book of teen fiction, and a whole quest in a popular videogame.
Not everyone could tell you the line comes from the Bible. Fewer know it was Jesus who said it. A smaller subset still can actually quote it in full: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
It’s funny how easily that last bit tends to get forgotten.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Analyzing the Narrative
Detail from Meister Francke’s Resurrection, ca. 1424 |
The stolen body hypothesis is one of the latter, one that
has been around from the very beginning. Matthew points out that the chief priests and elders paid to circulate the rumor as soon as it was clear the
Lord’s body was no longer in his tomb.
Labels:
Christ
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Disciples
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Recycling
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Resurrection
Monday, February 17, 2020
Anonymous Asks (80)
“What are valid reasons to break up?”
If you are talking about
breaking up a marriage on a permanent basis, the only possible valid reason given in scripture is
a spouse engaged in a sexual perversion. Usually this is limited to adultery, but
the Greek term the Lord used in Matthew is a fairly broad one, and there could be
several other sorts of perversion that qualify.
Sorry, that’s a bit grim, but there you are. However, I suspect you are inquiring about a dating
relationship or perhaps an engagement. In that case, I believe the Bible’s
answer would be a little different.
Frankly, almost anything qualifies.
Labels:
Anonymous Asks
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Divorce
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Relationships
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Metaphorical Mites
I know, I know, there are more than a few widows in the Bible. I mean the one at the temple in Jerusalem in the
gospels. The Lord remarked on the gift she deposited in the temple treasury. He specifically
drew the attention of his disciples to it when he said that she put in “more
than all those who are contributing.”
If you only read Luke you might be forgiven for thinking this incident
occurred at random, but Mark makes it clear that the Lord “sat down … and watched
the people putting money into the offering box.” That may seem an odd way
to occupy your time, but I think he was waiting for a certain poor widow to
come along.
So her two mites matter, and maybe not only for the reasons
you might think.
Labels:
Giving
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Mental Illness
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Recycling
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Sacrifice
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Time and Chance (23)
Work is not in itself a product of the Fall. God made man to
“have dominion”. Even
ruling is not a passive undertaking; it requires doing something from time to
time. God put Adam in the Garden of Eden not to be a man of leisure but
“to work it and keep it”. Apparently
it would not keep itself, even in an unfallen world. There is no suggestion
this was in any way unpleasant, but it was man’s lot up until the Fall.
However, when Adam sinned, God declared, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Work got a whole lot harder. The word “pain” appears for the first time in the respective curses. This was the new “lot” of mankind,
and coming to grips with it required serious reflection.
Back in Ecclesiastes 5, the Preacher has given it some.
Labels:
Ecclesiastes
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Time and Chance
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Work
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