Category: THEOLOGY
You’re Going the Wrong Way!
A few years ago, I was preaching in prisons in Oklahoma. In one of those prisons, I had to go into the meeting location several minutes after the pastor who had invited me. When it was time to go in, the guard opened the iron door...
What was “Reformed” in the Reformation?
If one wants to know what the Protestant Reformation was all about without reading huge volumes of historical literature, it is perhaps most clarifying to look at the theological results. One should specifically note the rediscovery of five critical biblical doctrines that had been obscured from...
What It Was Like: Geography and Culture Make a Difference
I recently returned from a trip to Israel. The purpose for the trip was to create mental images in the minds of my students of that part of the world where so much Bible history took place. As we hiked down Judean hills, traversed the barren...
What We Will See Next
You may wish to know what is next in this world. Let me tell you what is about to come with certainty: Men and women “will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Though that statement was made by a man named Paul who...
Why I Long for Eternity
I love thinking about eternity. My favorite thoughts, however, are not of the heavenly city with its gold streets and jeweled walls (cf. Rev. 21:18-21). That city will be impressive, to be sure, but it is not all there is to our future existence. We are...
When God Gives Up
In an exchange, there is always something gained and something lost. On my recent trip to Israel this meant that I had to surrender my dollars to gain shekels. If I wanted to buy souvenirs and Turkish coffee, the money had to be changed. One of...
The Elderly Mr. Phipp: A Brockton Dialogue
James, the youth: Is affection necessary for true spirituality? I mean, can’t a man be Christian, yet cold as a stone emotionally? Mr. Brockton: Affection cannot be separated from true religion. James: But are we to strain to be affectionate toward God when it is not...
Justification: God’s “Not Guilty” Verdict
Imagine you are on trial for a crime you didn’t commit—a crime punishable by death. Though you are innocent, circumstantial evidence has convinced police and prosecutors that you are guilty. You have no alibi—no way of proving you were somewhere else when the crime was committed....
Knowing We’re Chosen by God
I’ve noticed both online and in person that some people regularly and vigorously defend their view of election (God choosing to save some people). When the apostle Paul mentioned the idea of election in First Thessalonians 1:4, he wasn’t arguing for his view, but simply stating...
Joining the Great Multitude in Heaven
Read contemplatively, and even picture in your mind, the following glorious scene in heaven. After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,...
