Monthly Archives: April 2009

not everything must change

Posted on April 30, 2009 by

Last week I received a mass email from Brian McLaren regarding his “Everything Must Change” tour, in which he lamented that “many if not most Christians in the US remain focused on” their “intramural religious debates” rather than the global … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergent Church, Theology | 14 Comments

the swine flu and you

Posted on April 28, 2009 by

Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to this, but Martin Luther offers some timely advice in his open letter, Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague.  The Bubonic Plague came to Wittenberg in 1527, and Luther responded by closing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Worldview, Ethics | 3 Comments

an interesting analogy

Posted on April 26, 2009 by

Julie and I have spent the last four days in South Florida, speaking on Christian worldview at a women’s retreat (thanks, Tullian!), collecting sea shells on Sanibal Island, and watching drunk old people dance in the streets of Naples (are you … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergent Church, Theology | 11 Comments

my centered-bounded set

Posted on April 21, 2009 by

I ran into it again last week, and I’m hearing it often enough now that I think it deserves a response.  Many leaders are claiming that we who believe in the importance of the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Worldview, Emergent Church, Theology | Tagged , | 40 Comments

Machen on faith and knowledge

Posted on April 16, 2009 by

This morning I was reading J. Gresham Machen’s book, What Is Faith? (1925), and I found his remarks on our need to know in order to believe especially relevant to a recurring discussion on this blog.  The fact that Machen’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergent Church, Theology | 18 Comments

unfashionable is in

Posted on April 15, 2009 by

Given the cover story of last week’s Newsweek, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America,” we Americans who believe in Jesus can expect to fall increasingly out of step with our culture.  Life was somewhat different in the 1950’s, when … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Christian Worldview, Theology | 16 Comments

DeYoung does something

Posted on April 13, 2009 by

I am a big fan of Kevin DeYoung and his book, Why We’re Not Emergent, but I was initially disappointed when I received his new book on the will of God, Just Do Something.  It just seemed so small.  But … Continue reading →

Posted in book review | Tagged , | 49 Comments

how the resurrection justifies us

Posted on April 9, 2009 by

Thank you all for your insights on how we are justified by Jesus’ resurrection.  I don’t have much to add, except to point to I. Howard Marshall’s fine chapter on this topic in his recent book, Aspects of the Atonement … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Theology | 10 Comments

another Easter thought

Posted on April 8, 2009 by

This came up yesterday in class:  Romans 4:25 says that Jesus was “raised for our justification” and 1 Corinthians 15:17 says that if Jesus is not raised then we are still in our sins.  Paul seems to have more in … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | 16 Comments

a thought for Sunday

Posted on April 6, 2009 by

I just finished this RBC devotional last week, and though it isn’t quite ready for prime time, I thought that its content might provoke some thoughts in a sermon this Sunday, or at least give you something to preach against.  Easter … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | 8 Comments