“But studied neutrality is impossible, and obnoxious examples are cropping up more and more frequently, in fulfillment of a collegial application of the dictim that a man who doesn’t stand for something will fall for anything. We now find the Zeitgeist appearing in raunchy requirements for classes, ‘revivals’ that resemble group therapy confessionals, and urbane …
Too Much Jelly
“By the thousands, parents are saying, ‘Not with my kid, you don’t,’ and have enrolled their children in private academies, have started to homeschool, take taken advantage of tutorial services, and so forth. However, this growing challenge to secular education has some necessary ramifications in the years to come, for which established evangelical colleges are …
Mail Order Minister
“When a pastor retires or dies, the usual tendency is to scramble, form a pastoral search committee, and . . . you know the rest of the drill. An outsider, someone who is not in touch with the local and organic life of that particular congregation, is called, and he steps into the pastorate. His …
Future Generations of Ministry
“Nevertheless, a local church that takes its mission of evangelism and discipleship seriously should be able to fully train leaders for service in the local church. Any calling that is incapable of reproducing itself is incompetent in that calling. This training is for her own leaders in the years to come. A thriving church can …
Certification and the Ministry
“The disease has so far progressed that we now tend to assume that graduate school honors are the qualifications we should look for in a ministerial candidate. Paul’s requirements for a godly ministry are set aside, and we think that it is all right to do this because the man whose marriage and family are …
The God of Calvin is the God of History
“Part of the reason the Reformed have been so influential in history is that they have such a strong doctrine of history. This in turn is because they have a strong doctrine of the providence of God over all history. And without that doctrine of providence, the whole thing starts to unravel” (The Paideia of …
How Are Arminians Saved?
“We must also confess that we do not determine the boundaries of salvation — God does. We must follow His lead and must not seek to have higher fellowship standards than He does. For example, did God fellowship with you and have communion with you before you understood these truths? Salvation is based on the …
Can the Old Heart Act Like the New Heart?
“If the Father does not do the drawing, if the Father does not give it, then a man cannot come. But does this mean that no one ever comes? No — it means that everyone who comes has been drawn by God. And further, when the Father draws, that drawing is inexorable: ‘All that the …
Lazarus Didn’t Help Do It
“A dead man is in no shape to prepare himself for resurrection. He is impotent. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, it was not a cooperative effort between the two. Christ raised him, and then Lazarus came forth” (The Paideia of God, pp. 62-63).
What Kind of Objection?
[Speaking of Acts 4:27-28] “They gathered together to commit a heinous crime, but they only did what God’s hand and purpose had settled beforehand. We therefore see that God can control sinful actions without being defiled by those sinful actions. Of course, objections crowd into our minds, but they are not textual objections — at …