An Open Letter to President Trump: On Sports, Words, and Unity
Dear Mr. President, First, I am appreciative of your presidency, and I am not ashamed to say that I voted for you. I advocated for you before the election, and this letter is not an expression of buyer’s remorse. In these turbulent early days of your presidency you...
Six Principles for Organizational Leadership
An organizational leadership researcher asked me these six questions. These brief answers are from a Biblical worldview, and are broadly applicable in any organizational leadership setting. I think they illustrate how helpful the Bible is for (among other reasons)...
Our Theological System Should Not Tell Us How to Exegete the Bible
A theological system ought to be the product of exegetical study of Scripture, not a preface to exegetical work. Hermeneutical principles are first observed in the Scriptures themselves, even in a cursory and casual reading. Those principles are then applied in actual...
“The most effective leadership, management, and efficiency models share traits common with each other, and traits that are ultimately traceable to the pages of the Bible. While these models are often not intentionally rooted in Biblical concepts by those that promote the models, the models illustrate how applying Biblical principles can set a trajectory of success in enterprise and in life. Led By a Lion is designed to introduce some of these leadership, management, and efficiency models, but goes a step further in identifying the Biblical genesis of many of the core traits that fuel the success of these models.”
Moses’ Perspective on Time and Urgency (Psalm 90)
In Psalm 90, Moses helps us think through the importance of using time wisely and having a healthy sense of urgency.
The Precedent for Literal Grammatical Historical Hermeneutics in Genesis
In order to arrive at a Scriptural approach for interpreting Scriptures, the interpretive method must be exegetically derived from within the Scriptural text. Otherwise, there can be no claim to hermeneutic certainty, because any externally derived interpretive method...
On Love, Transparency, and Truth: Universities and Their Leaders Are Not the Center of Moral Clarity, But They Are Accountable
In considering the role, responsibility, and limitations of the contemporary university in the present disunity (as displayed in Charlottesville), Chad Wellmon’s recent article, “For Moral Clarity, Don’t Look to Universities” underscores an urgency to which university...
“This approach has the advantage of seeking to view all knowledge through the lens of Scripture, and to subject all knowledge to the authority of Scripture. It encourages science and research within the field of psychology. It offers a Biblical balance of description and prescription. Of course, if the Bible is unreliable, then the refractive power of Scripture is distortive rather than corrective, but the epistemological premise of this approach is that God’s word is authoritative and sufficient for our understanding, for our equipping, and for our practice. There are many extra-biblical resources that we can employ, but in seeking out how and when to do that, we mustn’t lose sight of the one reliable constant that God has provided for us – the Bible.” –Chapter 9
Rain and Grace
What do rain and forgiveness have to do with each other?
Culinary Calvinism: Considering Jay Adams’ TULIPburger
Jay Adams has a way with words, and an excellent way of explaining the significance of the doctrine of limited atonement in the Reformed view.[1] He describes the T (total depravity) and P (perseverance of the saints) as the bun, holding the burger together, and the U...
Do I Really Need to Know the Bible?
Why everyone needs to know the Bible, and how it impacts life.
“The Green Tree is an exceptional work…provides a vital tool for every Bible interpreter…Just as the root system is the foundation of a tree and directly impacts the health of a tree, hermeneutic method is at the root of one’s worldview. This illustration demonstrates that the hermeneutic method that an interpreter of the Bible employs will significantly affect the outcome. The tree will either be healthy, or it will not be healthy…The authors provide a unique examination of Revelation, Genesis, and Job that demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is derived from within Scripture, something that other hermeneutical methods fail to demonstrate. This is perhaps the most crucial principle demonstrated in The Green Tree, and it effectively demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is also the Biblical hermeneutic.” – Andrew Friend (Amazon Review)
Why I Believe the Bible
Dr. Cone addresses students at Calvary University on some basic principles of the Bible's credibility, and how it all comes back to the issue of the identity of Jesus.
Spanish translation of Integrating Exegesis and Exposition now available
Integrating Exegesis and Exposition: Biblical Communication for Transformative Learning is now available from Exegetica Publishing in Spanish. The English handbook on preaching and teaching was first published in 2015, and has now been translated (by Ruben de Rus)...
The Bible Unleashed (Slides)
For much of this week, I have had the incredible privilege of spending time with some of the most amazing young people at the 2017 IFCA National Youth Convention (held at Taylor University's fantastic campus in Indiana). Attending are several hundred junior and high...
You Owe Me Three Minutes (Commencement Speech 2017, Blue Ridge Christian School)
You Owe Me Three Minutes Delivered to the 2017 Graduating Class of Blue Ridge Christian School Superintendent Reynolds, school board, faculty and administration, friends, family, and men and women of the graduating class of 2017. It is my honor to be with you...
The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (Slides, Tyndale Intensive)
Three Ingredients for Higher Education Survival
In his recent well-crafted article, “Higher Education Seeks Answers to Leaner Years,” Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report has provided a resonant clarion call for higher education leaders. Marcus quotes one administrator who acknowledges that, “We inherited a system...
How to Choose an English Bible Translation, Part 1
What a blessing it is to have many English Bible translations from which to choose. Not too long ago there were none, and attempts to translate the Bible into English were met with severe persecution (read about William Tyndale, for example). So when we are faced with...
Seeking Excellence? Don’t Start With “Why, Start With “Who”
In seeking to identify the seeds of excellence, there is a popular device (the Golden Circle) that traces the beginnings of excellence back to the question Why? In this model, we could critique a more common alternative of beginning with the outcome (the What) and...
The Parables of Jesus as Metaphor: Considering the Mustard Seed of Matthew 13:31-32
In considering the parables of Jesus, there are a few contextual concepts we need to understand about Jesus’ presentations in Matthew’s Gospel. First, after Jesus was rejected in Matthew 12 He spoke in public often using parables. His purpose in doing so was...
Does the Biblical God Exist?
A brief examination of Scripture will unveil, in particular, the central assumption of the existence of God (Gen. 1:1, Ps. 14:1, etc.). Never does Scripture seek to prove His existence; rather it presents His reality as the foundational starting point of Biblical...