After 24 years in pastoral ministry I’ve realized there are some constant issues with God’s people: I’m going to have a certain percentage of people who seem to struggle with the assurance of salvation over and over again (I’ve seen some people agonize for decades). I’ve recognized that a (growing) number of marriages are chronically... Continue Reading

Stewart chides major personalities of the current Calvinist upsurge for thinking as though it “appeared Melchizedek-like, ‘without genealogy.’?” He names two heroes of the mostly 20-something crowd of new Calvinists, John Piper and Mark Driscoll, as culprits of this de-historicized vision of contemporary Calvinism. Type “Calvinism” into any web browser and you’re likely to find... Continue Reading

‘The Adjustment Bureau’ suggests that the best plan for your life is the one that originates with you. The real story is that pleasures beyond anything you can imagine are at God’s right hand, and he is able to deliver you from the self indulgent choices that would keep you from them. Our family recently... Continue Reading

The Thesis: According to Messiah College professor, Jenell Williams Paris, “Heterosexuality…is an abomination” (43). This statement is doubtless meant for maximum effect, since the Bible declares male on male sex as “an abomination” (Lev 20:13). One is led to ask how an evangelical Christian scholar, published by a Christian publishing house (IVP) justifies such a... Continue Reading

Review of SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, by Douglas Estes, Zondervan, 2009, 256 pages (paperback), $16.99 In his book SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World, Douglas Estes gets defensive about an accusation that no one seems to be leveling. I, for one, was only peripherally aware of the “virtual world”... Continue Reading

Jane Love, buyer of books in the religion category for Barnes & Noble, calls the mega best seller a “crossover,” meaning the book isn’t being bought by just evangelical Christians. Colton Burpo is having a late lunch at a T.G.I. Friday‘s in Manhattan. He orders a Mountain Dew, then shares some baby back ribs with... Continue Reading

The movie, ‘Soul Surfer’ portrays the comeback spirit and faith of shark attack survivor and champion surfer Bethany Hamilton Rich Peluso, vice president of Affirm Films, a Sony Pictures label that releases Christian films, was getting a cup of coffee when he noticed on the wall of the local coffee shop a poster of Bethany... Continue Reading

Rigorous theology helps people avoid mindless conformity. Without timeless rules, we all have a tendency to be swept up in the temper of the moment. But tough-minded theologies are countercultural. They insist on principles and practices that provide an antidote to mere fashion You can feel a jolt of energy surge through the audience of... Continue Reading

Imagine meeting a person who had never heard of Easter. If you could use only one film produced in your generation to describe the real meaning of the holiday, which would you use and why? While there have been many films on Christ over the last 85 years (“The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Jesus of... Continue Reading

If the language and scenario sound contemporary, they should. President Obama, who plays at cutting spending and wants to raise taxes, is the embodiment of the philosophy about which Ayn Rand warned Twenty-nine years after her death, novelist Ayn Rand is coming to a theater near you. After many failed attempts, her 1957 novel Atlas... Continue Reading