Category: THEOLOGY
Can These Bones Live?
In his classic book, The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson remembers his transition from pastoring in rural Pennsylvania to evangelizing the teenage street gangs of 1950s New York City. One gang, the Mau Maus, figures prominently in the book because of its unusual hardness and...
Two Dreams, One Glorious Reality
In Daniel 2 we read about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel, to whom God revealed the dream and its interpretation, explains to Nebuchadnezzar what he saw: a statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet...
You Cannot Because You Will Not, But If You Will, You Can
The Bible makes no secret of the fact that God works first in a sinner becoming a Christian. Conversion happens at his initiative, not the sinner’s. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16). The redeemed are those who...
Liam Loopert, Self-duped: A Brockton Dialog
A Brockton Dialogue James, the student: How faithful does one have to be in order to be a true Christian? The wise Mr. Brockton: To church or to God? James: Doesn’t one imply the other? Mr. Brockton: Faithfulness has many drivers, which can be deceiving. But...
“When We All Get to the New Creation” Adjusting Our Vocabulary about Life after Death
When I first started on my journey as a believer, I had a misconception about life after death. I thought that my soul would leave my body and go to live with Jesus in heaven forever. You may be thinking: “That’s a misconception? That’s what I...
35 Years and the Providence of God
I just received this New Testament, Thursday, 35 years late. It had been a gift from my wife with a very special note inside. I thought I lost the New Testament 35 years ago in an airplane. I recall feeling sad about it, but praying some...
How Did Jesus Get His Name?
What is in a name anyway? Maybe you know what your name means, and it is something profound and wonderful. Or maybe your name means something less than fantastic like my name, Kole, which means “darkly-complexioned”. If you met me, it would be obvious that my...
What Jesus Thought Was Wrong with the World: And How It’s Different Than Most People Think
Most people think there’s something wrong with the world. Ask almost any of our nation’s recent immigrants and they’ll tell you that without hesitation. That’s because when they came here to find something better they were fleeing something worse, usually violence or poverty. But it’s not...
That is Not the Way You Learned Christ
Have you ever felt the lure of your old life before Christ? Maybe you ran into some friends who knew you before you became a Christian and their talk of having fun enticed you, or someone you dated before seems interested in reconnecting with you. Paul...
Jesus Died a Hero?
There is a very old bit of graffiti scrawled onto a plaster wall in Rome. It’s a crude sketch of a naked man hanging on a stick-figure cross. The man has the head of a donkey. To the left stands another man who looks up at...
