Church and Ministry Statistics and Their Implications for Leadership Training
These are both exciting and challenging times for ministry. This generation has seen more technological progress than perhaps any other in history. Information is accessible now in ways previously unimagined. These advances have helped accelerate cultural change and...
New Book Announcement – Applied Biblical Worldview: Essays on Christian Ethics
Available now, and recently ranked #7 on Amazon's Hot New Releases Top 100 in its category (Ethics and Morality), from Exegetica Publishing is a new book by Dr. Christopher Cone – Applied Biblical Worldview: Essays on Christian Ethics, a revision and expansion of The...
From Dispensational Publishing House: A Dispensational Discourse with Dr. Christopher Cone
Editor’s Note: September is back-to-school month, so I thought it would be a great time to interview someone who could offer a unique perspective on the future of higher theological education. And I certainly found the right person to talk about it! I have watched the...
“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.”
The Inaugural Address of Dr. Christopher Cone, President of Calvary University
“Understanding the Challenges, Embracing His Excellence” August 26, 2016 – Thank you so much for your kindness. That I stand here before you today convinces me as much as many other things He has done in my life, that God indeed has a sense of humor. That He should...
Calvary University Convocation Address: Avoid Spiritual Unconsciousness
Convocation Address to Incoming Students of Calvary University, August 24, 2016, by Dr. Christopher Cone – Men and women of the incoming class, we are indeed privileged to welcome you to Calvary University. You are embarking on a journey that is not vague or...
The VERITAS Formula for Organizational Leadership
The VERITAS formula for organizational leadership is really about leading people and helping them to become who they are designed to be. The formula is rooted in the principle that from God’s mouth comes knowledge and understanding (Prov 2:6). God’s word is true, and...
“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
Why Do Bad Things Happen?
You recall how the story goes – God and Satan are having a discussion about a man named Job. He was a man of great character whom God had given much wealth and blessing. God commends Job, and Satan accuses Job, betting that Job would deny God if God would simply allow...
Breaking the Hinge in the Free-Will vs. Sovereignty Debate
One simple premise undergirds the ideas that either humanity has free volition or that God is sovereign, and that ultimately the two concepts are mutually exclusive. That premise is the hinge upon which the argument turns, favoring either human freedom or Divine...
The Beautiful Paradox: God’s Unfathomability and Knowability
In response to the question of whether or not science makes belief in God obsolete, Christopher Hitchens (who ultimately answers the question in the negative), suggested that, “It will not do to say, in reply to this, that the lord moves in mysterious ways. Those who...
“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)
2016 SCS Commencement Address by Dr. Christopher Cone
GO FROM THIS MOMENT AND DO SMALL THINGS Commencement Address, Southern California Seminary, May 14, 2016 Christopher Cone, Th.D, Ph.D, Ph.D It is one of the great honors of my life to have been invited to share these precious moments with you today. I express my...
Time to Put the Gun Away? A Comment on the Auction of George Zimmerman’s Gun
Recently George Zimmerman has put up for auction the gun that he describes as a “piece of American history,” and which is notable for its role in the loss of Trayvon Martin’s life. The auction is currently being handled by the United Gun Group, owned by Todd Underwood...
Why Go to Church?
A recent survey showed that the percentage of those in the U.S. who identify as Christians declined sharply by 8% from 2007 to 2014, with millennials leading the exodus. Roughly 36% of millennials now consider themselves to have no religious affiliation (“nones”)....
The Rise of Philosophy and Conflict With Theology
(An excerpt from Life Beyond the Sun: An Introduction to Worldview and Philosophy Through the Lens of Ecclesiastes) – Despite assertions that “any conflict between philosophy and theology must be apparent rather than real, the result of a misunderstanding,”[i]...
How to Choose an English Bible Translation, Part 2
In the previous article, we introduced some significant aspects to consider when deciding on an English translation for Bible study (formal versus dynamic equivalence, and transparency in the source material used, for example). While no translation can equal the value...
The Magnificent Seven: Formats for Communicating Biblical Content (PPT)
Presented to the first annual Calvary International Pastors' Conference on April 22, 2016. The Magnificent Seven (a reimagining of Seven Samurai) tells the story of seven men who were unspectacular as individuals, but who together had the power to change lives. It is...
Eternal Security and Christian Ethics
Practice is from position, but never to position. The ethical mandates of the New Testament are decisively clear that believers are to walk in the richness of the position we have been given (Eph1:3), and that the position is actually necessary for the walk (Heb...
10 Reasons to Study the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
Ephesians 2:14-16 describes in some detail how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law. Further, we discover that God’s righteousness is revealed outside of the Law (Rom 3:21), that justification comes from faith not works of law (Rom 3:28), and that the growth of the...
New Book Announcement: Integrating Exegesis and Exposition
Available now, from Exegetica Publishing, is a new book by Dr. Christopher Cone – Integrating Exegesis and Exposition: Biblical Communication for Transformative Learning. ISBN# 978-0-9765930-5-8 / 302 pages / Retail:$23 / Available at Amazon and Other Fine Retailers....
The Genesis Account as Early Model for Scriptural Hermeneutics
Presented to the Symposium on Scripture, Hermeneutics, and Language, San Diego State University, April 13, 2015. "...From the opening of Genesis to its conclusion, the book records roughly two thousand years of history. Further, Genesis alleges that these two thousand...