“Assessing… [the historical worth of the gospels] can be done, if at all, only by the kind of painstaking historical work which I and others have attempted… I simply record it as my conviction that the four canonical gospels, broadly speaking, present a portrait of Jesus of Nazareth which is firmly grounded in real history.” N.T. Wright in Simply Christian: … Read More
Why I Believe Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Part 1 of 3
When I was a sophomore at Lancaster Bible College, I had the privilege of taking a philosophy class from the school’s most gifted and popular professor at the time. For reasons I won’t go into here, I’ll just call him Bob. Bob had a gift for making difficult subjects like epistemology (the study of how we know stuff) clear and … Read More
Making Sense of “The Fear of the LORD”
Another reason to acknowledge and retain the doctrines of both the universal and redemptive Fatherhood of God is that doing so brings clarity to our understanding of the fear of God. Fear of the LORD is reverential awe. For example, in Psa. 96:4 it says, “For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared … Read More
The Universal Fatherhood of God, Part 2 of 2
“The Bible calls on us to develop a theological imagination within which we see the world as a community and not a collection of hostilities.” Esau McCaulley, Reading While Black Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun … Read More
The Universal Fatherhood of God, Part 1 of 2
“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at … Read More
What It Means to Be Adopted by God, Part 2 of 2
Last week, we concluded with Jerry Bridges’ three precious things adoption means for the Christian:[1] We have been brought into close personal relationship with Him. We have confident and ready access to Him. We receive the full rights of sons. Let’s now illustrate these three meanings in various ways by taking a deep dive into the infamous story of the … Read More
Why I’m Not a Presuppositionalist
Not a what?! Sorry, I’m not trying to force you to go get another cup of coffee just to read this post. 🙂 Admittedly, however, I’ve chosen to deal with a more technical but important topic related to apologetics (1 Pet. 3:15), philosophy, and specifically epistemology. Here are a few definitions to help us not get lost in the weeds: … Read More
What Jesus Wants in 2021, Part 3 of 4
In considering, Luke 10:38-42, Mary not only listened, Mary listened to Jesus. Indeed, that’s no small thing but it’s, regrettably, wildly misunderstood both inside and outside the Church. In thinking about the Jesus that Mary listened to, it’s essential to let his invitation below wash over, refresh, and inform our understanding of what it means to follow Him: “Come to … Read More
What Jesus Wants in 2021, Part 1 of 4
I want to take you with me on a very personal journey over the next month, one I hope has the potential—given the collateral damage of 2020—to bring healing to your heart, relationships, and our communities. More on that next week, but this week I want to give you some background. Last year at this time, my mom and I … Read More
A Few of My 2020 Favorite Things
What a year! As a whole, I wanted this post to be commemorative, informative, and encouraging going into 2021. I would be remiss, however, not to acknowledge the pain of those who’ve been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and, especially, express my profound sorrow for those who’ve lost loved ones to the virus. Our family lost two friends (one very close … Read More