Calvinists and nonCalvinists have fought about the origin of saving faith for centuries. Calvinists insist God grants saving faith to the elect at the moment of conversion. NonCalvinists insist God has granted everyone the ability to believe the gospel and must be rightly persuaded. No one has any ability or everyone has some ability. Important distinctions, to be sure. But have we missed the forest for the trees? While we skirmish on the periphery the enemy […]
“But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of […]
If you are a Christian then you love the church because you love what Jesus loves. Jesus died for her (Eph 5.2, 25) and it is Christian to love those for whom Jesus died. But Christ’s bride is one messed-up group of people because you and I are messed-up folk. Jesus did not give himself up for the church because of who she was. He died for her because of who […]
With rock star status Jesus was flanked by thousands (literally, “the myriads”) as he meandered through the Palestinian countryside (Lk 12.1). Folks stumbled over each other for a glimpse, nugget or even piece of Jesus. It never got to his head. Not one to waste an audience, Jesus introduced his disciples to Greed 101. Luke just told us Jesus was Public Enemy #1 to the self-righteous religious snots (11.53-54). It […]
The prophets spilled no small amount of ink clarifying God’s posture toward his people. Had God given up on saving a people for himself (Hos 4.6)? Could God actually overlook or forgive his people’s rebellion against him (Mic 6.9-16)? Will God sit idly by while pagan nations run roughshod over the people he claims to love (Hab 1.13)? Can we reconcile God’s apparent displeasure with his promise of eternal love toward […]
Like the God who made us, we humans are incessant communicators. We will use anything to talk to each other: scratches on a cave wall, reeds dipped in plant dye, Dixie cups and a long string, mechanical arms stamping letters on paper, or digital pixels bouncing off satellites into mobile devices for social media. God communicates so naturally his image-bearers would do so. Social media is not inherently evil any more than the […]
In A Pastor’s Daughter, Louisa Payson Hopkins (a.k.a. Maria) recounted how her father, Edward Payson, taught her gospel truth. She recorded this riveting exchange with her father (pp129-130): “Suppose you had been guilty of a crime for which you were tried; and of which, if you were convicted, the punishment would be death. While you are lying in prison, trembling, and fearing the result of the trial, there comes a man to you and […]
“The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good” (Gordon Gekko). Capitalism, liberalism and socialism are competing economic/political/social philosophies but they share the same inherent bane. Wherever one lands on the spectrum neither philosophy can assuage the very thing that cripples economies: greed. Adam Smith (capitalism), John Maynard Keynes (liberalism) and Karl Marx (socialism) might be mortal political enemies but they all attempted to […]
“So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Heb 13.13-14). We Memphians sit on the edge of the notorious New Madrid fault. It’s been relatively quiet since 1811-12 but there are regular tremors in the seismic zone. Geologists warn us about The Big One which portends […]
Along with parts 1 and 2, I offer five reasons why I’d rather be buried than cremated unless otherwise providentially hindered. While not imposing my convictions on anyone else, I do hope my wife will remember them at them at the funeral home! 4. Jesus was buried and I want be like Jesus. This isn’t the same thing as saying Jesus wore sandals so I wear sandals, or Jesus grew […]