The Son is God Before I go any further, I want to prove that the Son and Holy Spirit are God. Afterwards, we'll see how they differ from one another. When Scripture talks about the Word of God, it is silly to believe that it like a fleeting voice which evaporates into thin air. God's…
We All Believe
All knowing begins with what Michael Polanyi calls a "fiduciary framework." (fiduciary = pertaining to fides, "involving trust"): an interpretive framework that one takes initially on faith until it proves itself by yielding a harvest of understanding...If Polanyi is right, Christian theology is no worse of than modern science. Everyone has to have faith in something…
Blogging the Institutes | 1.13.6 | The Father is NOT the Son and vice versa
"Blogging the Institutes" is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin's work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List. The Father is NOT the Son and vice versa Let's stop talking about mere labels and talk about…
Blogging the Institutes | 1.13.5 | Different Terms; Same Truth
"Blogging the Institutes" is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin's work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List. Different Terms; Same Truth If the various theological terms that have been coined over the years…
An Effective Template for Preaching Christ-Centered Sermons
The "gospel-centered" movement has swept through many churches. This is a good thing. It's even impacted preaching as many pastors now strive to preach Christ in every message. The bankruptcy of merely preaching a message on how to be a "good" person has been exposed. But when you actually read the Bible, you are confronted with…
“The Benedict Option” by Rod Dreher–Reflections
Rod Dreher's new book, The Benedict Option, has been something of a lightning rod (pun intended) in current discussion. Some have taken an enthusiastic liking to it, while others have not been so favorable towards it. Much of the concern seems to cluster around the idea that Dreher is advocating for Christians to withdraw from the wider culture.…
How to do Family Worship
As a pastor, I desire to help for all of our church families to be passionate about teaching Jesus to their kids. Seminary professor Don Whitney has written a helpful little book called Family Worship to help guide parents as they teach their children about the Lord. There is no substitute for parents faithfully teaching their children about God…
Stagger Onward
We live liturgically, telling our sacred Story in worship and song. We fast and we feast. We marry and give our children in marriage, and though in exile, we work for the peace of the city. We welcome our newborns and bury our dead. We read the Bible, and we tell our children about the…
Three Types of Bad Preaching (And Their Remedies)
What if there was a way to identify bad preaching? Having grown up in church, I have probably listened to over 1,000 sermons in my lifetime. In all my time listening to (and now delivering) sermons, I have heard three types of bad preaching. You can read the rest of the article at Rookie Preacher.
Raising Lazarus 