A few days ago I was visiting with some fellow CREC ministers, and we were talking about the problems that accompany the funding of missions. A very common model in evangelical circles is for a church to support a hundred missionaries at $25 a month. They have lots of names on the bulletin board, and …
That Leaves No Remainder
Faith is the sole instrument by which a person may receive the blessing of Christ’s righteousness imputed to him. Now when we say “sole instrument” we do not mean that no other instruments are involved, but that no other instruments are involved in the way that faith is. Faith is the capstone of all instruments, …
The Devil You Say
It is initially curious to some that fundamentalists will say, in their statements of faith, that they believe in a personal devil. At first glance it might appear to be a statement about the inspiration of the Bible — since the devil is such an obvious reality in Scripture, and since the liberals were engaged …
Beyond What Is Written
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #34 “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of …
The Deepest Will
“Christ teaches that choices come from the heart. The will does not command the heart; the heart commands the will” (Back to Basics, p. 20).
And Inside Out
“The fundamental mistake of the liberal Protestant pulpit of the last forty years is that it presumes that the gospel is continuous with human experience. It would be closer to the truth to say that the gospel is continuous with human experience after the gospel has turned human experience upside down” (Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, …
We Would Have Been a Great Proficient
In a recent online discussion of some FV issues — of which I apparently cannot get enough — I was asked about the difference between what I call the amber ales and the oatmeal stouts. There is not a monolithic FV position on everything and, not surprisingly, there are differences of emphasis throughout the movement, …
The Calvinist Beachhead in Every Christian Heart
“Scripture itself is a testimony that divine sovereignty does not destroy human responsibility. The sovereignty of God pervades every page of the Bible — in fact, every word. And yet, who wrote the book of Romans? Whose words are they? Whose personality stands out on every page? The answer, of course, is Paul (Rom. 1:1). …
A Long Tunnel is Still a Tunnel
“Unfortunately, the more we know about a subject, the more apt we are to stay locked into our assumptions, and hence to become blind to alternative perspectives” (Lowry, The Homiletical Plot, p. 61).
Mars Hell
Martin Luther once said that God reveals Himself in the contrary. Love is revealed in a man, contorted with pain on a cross. And an inability to understand how this can work is what creates problems for those who can find someone like Rob Bell compelling. Justin Taylor has a good summary of some of …