

Gifted makes Amazon’s Hot New Releases list for Kindle (Christian Theology/Pneumatology)
Thank you to all the supportive readers who helped the Kindle version of Gifted: Understanding the Holy Spirit and Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts reach #22 on Amazon's Kindle Best Sellers (for Christian Theology/Pneumatology) yesterday, and put it on Amazon's "Hot New...
10 New Testament Evidences for the Divinity of Jesus Christ
#1: The Word John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“ Jesus was in the beginning (He had no beginning), He was with God, and He was God. The grammatical structure of the passage supports the idea that Jesus was the...
Interview with Grace Theology Press
Christopher Cone interviewed by Todd Mathis of Grace Theology Press, November 2015: Tell our audience a little about your ministry. I serve in a few different roles. I am at Southern California Seminary (which is connected to Shadow Mountain Community Church...
“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.”
An Election Day Reminder: Balancing the Present and Future
Election Day gives us a sense that we can have some influence over world events. As world events remind us of the frailty of society and of our own lives, attentions are easily drawn to the future. But our attention should not be drawn simply to the great big things...
The Church at Ephesus as a Case Study in Safeguarding the Institution From Worldview Drift
Presented to the TRACS National Conference, Dallas, TX, October 29, 2015 [gview...
Tomorrowland Not a George Clooney Environmental Critique
From my guest article at patheos.com: Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland was initially panned as “George Clooney’s global warming shaming,” but it has much greater aspirations than simply an environmental agenda piece. Roger Ebert recognized a broader ambition when he termed...
“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
1 John 2:2 – Does Grace Extend to Everyone?
Presented to the 2015 Free Grace Alliance National Conference, October 13, 2015. INTRODUCTION A literal translation of 1 John 2:2 reads as follows: “And He a...
New Book Announcement – Gifted: Understanding the Holy Spirit and Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts
Available now from Exegetica Publishing is a new book by Dr. Christopher Cone – Gifted: Understanding the Holy Spirit and Unwrapping Spiritual Gifts. ISBN#: 978-0976593089 Pages: 201 Price: $13 (available at Amazon, and other booksellers) Description: The Christian...
What to make of non-Christian cultures dreaming about Jesus
Nabeel Qureshi, author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, describes the significance of dreams in Islamic culture, saying, In Muslim cultures, generally speaking, people don't see themselves as being able to commune with God. Communion is a very Christian concept...
“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)
Worship and the Presence of God
A common theme in contemporary Christian worship music is the idea of coming into the presence of God to worship Him in a deep and meaningful way. Songs that emphasize this concept challenge believers to pause from their normal daily life in order to do something...
Methodological and Hermeneutic Bases for the Distinction Between Israel and the Church
Five Methodological and Hermeneutical Bases for the Distinction Between Israel and the Church Presented to the Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics, Summit University, September 16, 2015 [gview...
Are Christians Supposed to Judge Others?
Jesus says in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, that you may not be judged.” From this statement one might conclude that judging is prohibited, but in the next verse the context helps the reader understand that the passage is not a prohibition. Rather it is a warning: “For...
The Auschwitz Legacy and the (Non) Advancement of Man
I was invited to speak at a conference in Poland recently (on Biblical hermeneutics and theological method, in case you were curious), and while there I had an opportunity to visit Auschwitz. I am not much of a tourist or a sightseer, but there are just some things...
Planned Parenthood Issues Symptomatic of Deep-Seated Problem
During the fiscal years of 2009-2014 alone, Planned Parenthood performed 1,650,024 abortions.[1] In the same five years, Planned Parenthood provided more than twice as many breast exams (3,254,136)[2] as abortions – along with a host of other services related...
10 Reasons Market Meltdowns Not Cause for Panic
Today is not looking like it will be an encouraging day for financial markets around the world, and predictably this news cycle will probably be dominated by ominous financial news. This is a difficult time for many, but doesn’t need to be cause for hopelessness or...

What Was Nietzsche Thinking?
The flow of Nietzsche’s thought is notably distinct from more systematic philosophers (e.g., Kant) in that his perspective on moral value does not advance from previously defined epistemological and metaphysical conceptions. In fact, a reverse progression is evident...

Biblical Wordplay Doesn’t Obfuscate Meaning
Years ago, inaugural Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Coach John McKay was asked, after yet another loss, about his team’s execution. He quipped without hesitation, “I’m all for it.” McKay had the ability to quickly recognize not only the original, intended meaning of a word,...

History of the Problem of Evil, Part 2
The Problem of Evil in Modern Philosophy Calvin (1509-1564) Calvin resolutely disregards human volition as a means of absolving God for evil’s existence, and thus rejects earlier mainstream theodicies. In Ockham, however, Calvin finds an agreeable response to the...

9 Steps for Bible Exegesis and Exposition: #8 Secondary Verification
Technically only the first seven steps of the exegetical process are truly exegetical. In those steps we aren’t using anything but the text itself (though because of our limitations in connecting with the languages especially it is expected that we will use tools like...