For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order … Read More
Should We Judge a Movement By Its Abuses?
“Now, it is undeniably true that some of the more fundamentalist forms of Christianity— Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox— can do serious psychological and emotional damage to people… It’s wrong for Christians (or Jews, Muslims, and any other religious believer) to be so defensive about attacks on our faith that we deny that people within the religion can use its teachings … Read More
Exclusive Prayer & Ministry Update-122019
Hi Family and Friends! To my American friends, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and, as always to all, thanks so much for reading and partnering in prayer. Here is my latest: As we usually discuss more theology than carpentry, I thought I’d change things up a bit! When we moved into our fixer-upper, there was this weird landing … Read More
The Stupid Religious Reason I Missed Star Wars
Christians have a strange proclivity to fashion Jesus’ teaching on the narrow way into a joyless pursuit that devalues creation and makes the world he created very small. Let me explain. I chewed a lot of gum that year. I was collecting trading cards for the movie that everyone was talking about—a movie that promised to be one of the … Read More
Navigating the Empty Nest
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,whom he has redeemed from troubleand gathered in from the lands,from the east and from the west,from the north and from the south.He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,and burst their bonds apart.Let them … Read More
The Changing Face of Pluralism
How in the world am I going to see You as my brother not my enemy? Coldplay Everyday Life In his excellent halt vs. help article (see here), Chapell says that the common enemy that should unite all Christians is pluralism. Unfortunately, he doesn’t give a clear definition, however, the late John Stott, gave one that I’m sure captures Chapell’s … Read More
Halt vs. Help, Part 2
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback on the article last week. Below are just some of your great observations. For clarity, I’ve added a few words in brackets and put key ideas in bold: “I was… raised on the mission field… I find myself identifying more with the ‘help’ idea… I never thought of myself as part of a … Read More
Talkin’ Bout My Generation: Halt vs. Help
“Ok Boomer.” It’s certainly not a compliment and there’s more anger behind it than you’d think. “Ok boomer” is a growing fad—now on memes, t-shirts, etc.—among teens who are starting to push back against a certain type of older person. As one teen explained, “A boomer is really more of a type of personality, someone who is intolerant to new … Read More
Inconvenient Horrors
If you missed it, I’m not surprised. It was certainly underreported by the media and, let’s face it, few of us like to dwell on violence—especially when it’s real and against our most vulnerable. Less than two months ago, 2,246 medically-preserved fetal remains were found in the Illinois home of a recently-deceased doctor. Yeah, that’s right— over 2000 medically-preserved fetal … Read More
How Did We Get the Bible We Have Today?
“The use of ‘canon’ for a list of books that are canonical in the defined sense is secondary and derivative. The church has always known, more or less clearly, that it did not create a canon by discretionary fiat but received the canon that God created for it.”[1] Like Jake and Elwood above, the Bible claims to be on a … Read More