23
Dec
2021
The Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception
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In today’s episode of Theologically Driven, Dr. Snoeberger mentions the distinction between the virgin birth of Jesus and the “Immaculate Conception,” a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church about Mary. Dr. Combs, former professor of New Testament at DBTS, wrote a brief explanation and critique of the Immaculate Conception in 2013. We are reposting it... Read More
20
Dec
2021
The Church and the Keys to the Kingdom
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In 1964, George Eldon Ladd argued that the Church functions as “Custodian of the Kingdom” (Presence of the Future, 276). For many, this designation sounds either (1) too Catholic (salvation is found in the organized Church alone) or (2) too Reformed (the Church IS the Kingdom, effectively displacing ethnic Israel). But while both of these concerns... Read More
13
Dec
2021
Should We Counsel an Unbeliever?
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One of the challenging questions that churches and biblical counselors face is, “Should we counsel an unbeliever?” Jay Adams used to call counseling an unbeliever “pre-counseling.” The reason for his clarification was that he defined biblical counseling (or nouthetic counseling as he called it) as loving confrontation out a deep concern for a person in... Read More
2
Dec
2021
Beale on Broader Evangelicalism
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It’s been several years since I have taken time to write anything other than Tweets about Fundamentalism, but a new book and a blog post piqued my interest recently. When I saw that Dr. David Beale, under whose teaching I greatly benefitted as a college student and afterward when he’d come to speak here, had... Read More
22
Nov
2021
Review: “Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners” by Dane C. Ortlund
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Three things excited me about this book. First, it deals with sanctification, a topic central to the Christian life. Second, it is in a series of books called Union, which is edited by Michael Reeves. I reviewed one of the titles in this series before (Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear... Read More
15
Nov
2021
The Devil (and God) is in the Details
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This article is adapted from Bryan Murawski’s book, “Preaching Difficult Texts of the Old Testament” (Hendrickson, 2021). Someone once said, “The devil is in the details.” This trite idiom encourages you not to underestimate the details in a certain task. What at first appears simple and straightforward may contain difficulties you never saw coming. The saying may have... Read More
2
Nov
2021
Jesus, Friend of Sinners and Sovereign Ruler
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When we think of Jesus, what comes to mind? My thoughts immediately turn to His sacrificial love for me on the cross. I think of hymns and texts of Scripture that talk about Jesus being a friend. Hymns like: What a Friend we have in Jesus Jesus, Savior, blessed friend I’ve Found a Friend in... Read More
26
Oct
2021
New Podcast: Theologically Driven
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DBTS has launched a new podcast, Theologically Driven. This podcast is for those who want to know God through His Word and have that knowledge drive their decisions. In this podcast we will be discussing issues of theology, biblical studies, preaching, church life, biblical counseling, and other areas in order to help church leaders and... Read More
11
Oct
2021
Review of God and the Gay Christian
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Some of my previous university students, many of them bright students, have embraced the view that homosexuality is biblically acceptable. I have seen this trend especially among those who either embraced homosexuality themselves or are close to others who have embraced this lifestyle. In a conversation with one of the students recently, she indicated that... Read More
30
Sep
2021
Mission in the Old Testament: God’s Concern for the Nations (Part 4)
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Some time ago I took up the question of whether God intended ancient Israel to serve as a verbal witness proclaiming God’s salvation to the nations. In other words, did Israel have a “missionary mandate” in that she was commissioned directly by God to be a missionary to the nations? In my first post I... Read More