In the postmodern, emergent, post-Christian church hungry to try and connect with first century Christianity I’ve often said we should stop monkeying around with all of the candles and just go back to Rome if we’re going to go this route. Rome has better sets, costumes, props, and scripts. I’ve been in the Sistine chapel... Continue Reading

Some may wonder what the point of reflecting on Rome is for a Protestant. At least threefold,I would respond. First, Protestants benefit from a conservative papacy: on public square issues such as abortion, marriage and religious freedom, the RCC has a higher profile and more power – financial, legal, institutional – than any Protestant group.... Continue Reading

But while such grandiose claims about the New Testament canon may seem entirely new, it is in fact a very, very old idea. For one, there are other modern examples of such activity. The book The Five Gospels (Harper One, 1996), effectively rewrote the 4-Gospel canon by adding a fifth gospel, The Gospel of Thomas.... Continue Reading

And he did all that so we could experience God’s mercies new every morning. So if you are suffering today, I don’t minimize your pain. Some of you are suffering horrific pain and sadness. But I would encourage you, even in your pain, to look for God’s mercies in the midst of it. As much... Continue Reading

Beyond the Boy Scouts, at stake is whether any private organization beyond religious institutions shall be permitted by the current culture to uphold traditional sexual ethics. And ultimately are churches themselves, even if legally protected by the First Amendment, safe from hostility and growing intolerance against traditionalism? A lot may depend on whether the BSA... Continue Reading

So then, how do we contend for the one, true faith while striving for peace and unity in the church? At first glance, some might think these two commands are mutually exclusive. However, God’s call to contend for purity and God’s call to strive for peace and unity are fundamentally intertwined. If we are to... Continue Reading

These 22 questions were asked daily by John Wesley’s and George Whitefield’s Holy Club in their private devotions over 200 years ago (Source). In light of trusting in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection alone to forgive us our sins and reconcile us to God, and in light of Him having declared us righteous, these questions... Continue Reading

Slowly but surely, parts of the Christian church have been loosening their ties to the likes of Luther and Calvin and opting instead for a cacophony of contemporary voices informed primarily by human experience. To its detriment, the church has listened with itching ears to voices that tell us things we want to hear instead... Continue Reading

There are perhaps a hundred different things, small and large, that are negotiated between parents and kids every week. Moms and dads interact differently with their children. To give kids two moms or two dads is to withhold from them someone whom they desperately need and deserve in order to be whole and happy. It... Continue Reading

According to the skin-conductance tests, the atheists found asking God to harm them or others to be just as upsetting as religious folks did. The researchers also compared the reactions of the atheists when making statements like “I wish my parents were paralyzed” and “I dare God to paralyze my parents.” Atheists were, like believers,... Continue Reading