I have a confession to make. In my former life as a Baptist youth evangelist, I did some things of which I am not now particularly proud. For example, on one occasion I dressed up like the devil and went to the local high school, where I told the students just arriving for class that day not to . . . . Continue Reading »
Galatians 1:15-18 is not your basic witness-to-the-Resurrection text. Yet St. Paul’s mini-spiritual autobiography helps us understand just how radically the experience of the Risen Lord changed the first disciples’ religious worldview, and why an evangelical imperative was built into that experience. Continue Reading »
The followers of Jesus Christ must manifest a confidence that the truth that sets us free is everyone’s truth, and not just a subjective truth peculiar to our own community. We should, in short, not be content to turn inward but ought always to reach out to the larger world. Continue Reading »
The assertion that “all truth is God’s truth” obviously doesn’t reflect a relativistic outlook on the existence or nature of truth. Those who express this sentiment truly do believe there is truth to be discovered. In a pluralistic context, however, where the epistemological . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s confusing yet strangely gratifying all at the same time. We live in a culture that is moving further and further from the exclusive claims of Christianity yet almost equally—and inconsistently—holds select passages in the Bible in high regard. They hold forth as though they . . . . Continue Reading »
As a Christian and a conservative, I believe we have reached a crossroads where we need to seriously reconsider our approach to cultural engagement. The swift undercurrent of moral decay continues to take most Christians by surprise while our pragmatic approach to morality rooted in tradition and . . . . Continue Reading »
Throughout Church history, theological controversy has been one of the enduring features. Name any communion or denomination and you will find one which has struggled with this matter. St. Maximus the Confessor was imprisoned, exiled, and lost his tongue and compared to many he got off easy. For . . . . Continue Reading »
This weekend the wife and I are in the area of Pittsburgh, PA. We haven’t had a private get-away for several years now, and this came up as a good weekend to relax. So we went to some thrift and antique shops. Got a few trinkets for our sons, but nothing for . . . . Continue Reading »
The beginning of Lewis’ Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold includes this scenario about the absolute authority that a man might have over life and death.At that moment the door was flung open and out came my father. His face shocked me full awake, for he was in his pale rage. I knew that in his . . . . Continue Reading »
These principles are some of my personal first principles for what a church is and how a church ought behave. These come out of my mixed theological background – some Mennonite, Conservative Baptist, and E Free, and uncompromisingly an historic dispensationalist. I welcome your feedback.You . . . . Continue Reading »
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