15
Apr
2024
Does Matthew 24 Describe the Rapture of the Church (Part 4)
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Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here. In this series, we have been examining the arguments made by John Hart in Evidence for the Rapture that our Lord Jesus describes the pre-tribulation rapture of his church in Matthew 24:36–44. To review, Hart, in my opinion, makes a very plausible case that (1) the switch... Read More
8
Apr
2024
Financial Advice from a Dead Guy
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In recent months, I’ve written about marriage and parenting advice “from a dead guy” (i.e., John Chrysostom, c. 347–407). In this post, I’m going to note a few comments about wealth and poverty from this same church father. Almost every substantial discussion of John Chrysostom’s ministry points out that one of the major themes of... Read More
1
Apr
2024
The Role of “Passion” in Christian Experience
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The use of the term passion has seen a huge uptick in conservative evangelical life in the past 25 years or so, roughly paralleling the sharp rise in influence of Reformed Charismatism in conservative evangelical theology and hymnody. The term passion is used in an overwhelmingly positive sense as the antidote to lethargy and ambivalence toward God and spiritual... Read More
25
Mar
2024
When Society Collapses: Lessons from an Unlikely Prophet
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I’ve been teaching through the book of Hosea recently and have been struck by some fascinating parallels to modern American culture. Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel around 755–710 B.C., during the final decades of its existence. The northern kingdom had seceded from the southern kingdom of Judah during Rehoboam’s reign, which began... Read More
11
Mar
2024
Religious Liberty: “We Give Thanks for the Freedom We Have to Worship Publicly”
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You’ve probably heard someone pray at church (and likely have prayed yourself) something like the title of this post: “We give thanks for the freedom we have to worship publicly.” This prayer is set in contrast to the experience of many Christians in different times and places where they had to hide their gatherings from... Read More
4
Mar
2024
Marriage Advice from a Dead Guy
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A few weeks ago, I wrote a post titled “Parenting Advice from a Dead Guy.” In that post, I introduced Eastern church father John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) and noted some parenting advice found in his book An Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring up Their Children. In addition to authoring... Read More
26
Feb
2024
Seated Upright, Fully Clothed, and in My Right Mind: Musing About Hermeneutics
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For those of you who knew about and prayed for my recent open-heart surgery, I want to offer my deepest thanks. The discovery and repair of two long-term heart issues has freshly tuned my heart, metaphorically speaking, to the doctrine of divine providence, easily one the most inexhaustible fields of theology, and perhaps my favorite.... Read More
20
Feb
2024
Does Matthew 24 Describe the Rapture of the Church? (Part 3)
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Read Part 1 of this series here. Read Part 2 here. In the last installment of this series, we examined the argument (a convincing argument, in my opinion) made by John Hart in Evidence for the Rapture that Matthew 24:29–41 was not intended to portray future events in chronological order. Instead, as Hart argued, it... Read More
12
Feb
2024
Does Matthew 24 Describe the Rapture of the Church (Part 2)?
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In this series, we are examining nine arguments made by John Hart in his essay, “Jesus and the Rapture: Matthew 24,” which appeared in Evidence for the Rapture: A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism. In the last post (available here), we examined Hart’s first argument in support of the view that Jesus describes a pretribulational rapture... Read More
5
Feb
2024
The Overlooked Scandal of the Mere Anglicanism Conference
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If you interact with certain segments of conservatism, you may have heard about a kerfuffle at the Mere Anglicanism conference held a couple of weeks ago in SC, which included speakers like Sam Allberry, D. A. Carson, Rebecca McLaughlin, Carl Trueman, and Calvin Robinson. The controversy centers around that last speaker, Calvin Robinson, an ordained... Read More