‘Chalke’ It Up to Experience!
Down the slippery slope
Chalke is a good example: in the past, he was revolted by the idea that God could be angry with sin; that requires a redefinition not only of salvation but also of sin itself. Those who reject God as angry with sin tend, historically, to reduce sin to disrupted relationships between human beings. Sin is... Continue Reading
Do Truck Drivers Matter to God?
Is ministry a "higher call"?
Whenever I speak, I hang around afterward and talk with individual audience members about their specific questions and concerns. As a result, I’ve had countless conversations with people looking for an answer to the question of significance. They sit in those pews and wonder, Did I miss my calling in life? Is my life’s work... Continue Reading
Missions: Nsima, Beans, Greens, and Water; No Dessert
The importance of being culturally-aware in evangelism and missions
So I had the four guys over for lunch one day; they were all nice guys. I served them a typical Malawian meal: nsima (looks like mashed potatoes but is made from corn and is tasteless and nutritionless) beans and greens. Water to drink. No dessert. They were very polite and appreciative, but I was... Continue Reading
Freedom Is Not Free
The price tag for the Sixties cultural revolution is now becoming obvious and it is costly
“Free sex,” taught in public high schools at government expense, and modeled by Hollywood is not free for the tax-payer. The average citizen has to underwrite other people’s fantasies. This liberated life-style, outside the bonds of marriage, practiced by welfare queens and absentee fathers, now costs the tax-payer $330 billion per year in welfare payments.... Continue Reading
Kaepernicking Replaces Tebowing
A touchdown celebration—flexing his right arm and kissing his biceps—is called “Kaepernicking”
I am saying that an anti-distraction bias by itself doesn’t explain Tebow’s exile: It will be a great mystery if none of the 32 NFL teams wants him. I’m also saying that worship of Man rather than God is now our national religion: Kissing your own biceps is more acceptable than bowing before our Creator. ... Continue Reading
John Brown the Calvinist
Calvinism rightly understood is a threat to the autonomy of modern man in modern America
In modern America, Calvinism is associated with fanaticism and hate. Calvinists are a deluded sort! Modern America is not threatened by evangelicalism. Modern America is not threatened by fundamentalism. However, Calvinism is a different story. In my mind, Calvinism rightly applied, is the only real threat to the fulcrum of a godless America. Calvinism which... Continue Reading
Is Iraqi Kurdistan a Safe Haven for Christians?
A ray of hope found for Iraq’s Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian, and other Christians in the Kurdistan region
Traumatized Iraqi Christians have also relocated within the country. The predominant flow of refugees has been away from the violence of central and southern Iraq and toward Kurdistan in the north, which had been the historic heartland of the ancient Mesopotamian Christian communities. There the refugees have encountered a somewhat better situation, although not without... Continue Reading
Call for British Prime Minister to Protect ‘the Cross’ in Light of European Court Verdict
Three British Christians lose their cases before the European Court of Human Rights on expressing their Christian identity in the work place, one prevails
“I’m just an ordinary person. A nurse. I loved my job and can’t believe that the UK government said to the European Court that the cross is not a Christian symbol. I am pleased that the court recognizes the wearing of my cross is a manifestation of my Christian faith, and that the Prime Minister... Continue Reading
The Hidden History of Insider Movements
Can someone say "yes" to Jesus and "no" to the existing local expressions of the church?
Insider movements raise important questions about the nature of faith in Christ. Can a Hindu or a Muslim accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior but not join some expression of the visible local church, yet still be a “true” Christian? Is it important for followers of Christ to use or accept the label Christian... Continue Reading
I Felt Led To
How do we determine God's will?
Common phrases in evangelicalism today include “I felt led to…”, “God told me to….”, and “The Lord laid it on my heart to….” I cringe every time someone uses these phrases because I’ve heard so many unbiblical endings to them. In fact, I’ve seen people’s lives take a million tough twists and turns because they... Continue Reading