25
Aug
2021
With Great Rigor Comes Great Reward
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“Fifty years ago many colleges and universities and theological seminaries were devoted to the truth of God’s Word. But one by one they have drifted away, often with all sorts of professions of orthodoxy on the part of those who were responsible for change.” It sounds like something that was written yesterday. However, this comes... Read More
10
Aug
2021
Some Thoughts about Heaven
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“The Christian does not desire going to heaven; they desire to go to Christ, and wherever He is, there is heaven.” The twitter post caught my eye, and left me perplexed. Had the statement been that the Christian does not merely desire to go to heaven, but also (and firstly) to be with Christ, I’d have accepted it. The idea... Read More
30
Jul
2021
Is It Dangerous to Let Individual Christians and Local Churches Decide When a Specific Government Ruling Does Not Need to be Obeyed?
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I suggested in a previous post that something like the following is a good foundation for determining the limits of governmental authority over the church: Christians/churches must submit to every government regulation unless it would mean disobeying God (i.e., cause them to sin) or the government is seeking to regulate something outside its sphere of... Read More
7
Jul
2021
What Are the Limits to Governmental Authority over the Church?
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As Christians in North America continue to transition from governments that were largely favorable or neutral to Christianity to governments that demonstrate an increasing animosity toward traditional Christianity, believers and churches will be forced to wrestle more and more with the relationship between church and state (and family and state). When churches faced public opposition... Read More
29
Jun
2021
Government Regulations and the Gathering of the Church
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With Tim Stephens’s[1] recent arrest in Calgary, Alberta under the charge that his holding church worship gatherings outdoors was a violation of current health regulations, many have been arguing rather vociferously that Tim and other pastors in Alberta (like James Coates) are in clear violation of Scripture and, thus, deserve their current situation. The most... Read More
11
Jun
2021
On Originalist Hermeneutics
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A few years back I made a proposal that we replace the label “literal translation” with a better one—originalism—a term that has been robustly defined away from competing hermeneutical ideas in the secular/legal sphere. For decades the dispensationalist has dealt with snickering ridicule from naysayers who believe that being a “literalist” means disavowing all linguistic... Read More
28
May
2021
Learning from History: Orwell’s (Prophetic) Proposed Preface to Animal Farm and Freedom in Society
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*This article was originally posted in 2015. Its relevance has not lessened. Animal Farm, George Orwell’s satirical story criticizing Stalin and the Soviet Union, was first published in 1945. What may be surprising to some is the difficulty Orwell had in getting the book published. At the time, many in Britain were enamored with Stalin... Read More
7
May
2021
Legitimate Care and Concern vs. Anxiety and Worry
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Dr. Doran recently preached a series of sermons addressing a significant problem in our day: anxiety. This was a timely series and the sermons are filled with biblical and practical guidance for fighting against the sin of worry. You can listen to the sermons here: The Roots of Anxiety from Matthew 6:24–34 The Right Response... Read More
29
Mar
2021
The Wisdom Pyramid: A Review
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Brett McCracken has written a helpful, short book on managing our information-overload world. He rightly notes that though we live in a world of exponentially increasing knowledge, such knowledge has not done much to make us wise. The book breaks into two unequal parts. They are unequal both in terms of length as well as... Read More
24
Mar
2021
When Your Authority Becomes Your Enemy
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Post-Christian society is full of deniers—Christians unwilling to cede the loss of Christian influence and often unaware that this loss has irreparably occurred in American culture. These deniers are still agitating to restore Christian privilege: getting the Bible and prayer back into public schools, getting the Ten Commandments back into courthouses, getting a real Christian... Read More