Does Every Believer Have a Spiritual Gift?
The phrase spiritual gift is only employed five times in the NASB New Testament, In Romans 1:11 (χάρισμα ὑμῖν πνευματικὸν) it is in reference to something Paul wanted to impart to the entire church at Rome. In 1 Corinthians 12:1, Paul prefaces the entire discussion of...
9 Steps for Bible Exegesis and Exposition, Step #9: Development of Exposition
This is a step where we can easily derail. Even if we have done our first seven steps well – handling the text accurately and comprehensively – and even if our eighth step has helped us to have confidence that we have grasped the meaning of the passage, there is still...
Q&A: If Completed Canon Ends Prophecy, What About Revelation 11?
Question: If the perfect of 1 Corinthians 13:10 refers to the completion of God’s revelation to the church, and thus prophecy is done away with the completion of the canon, then how can it be that in Revelation 11 the two prophets are inarguably prophesying? ...
“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.”
Wikipedia, the Meaning of Life, and How Philosophy Still Matters
“The unexamined life,” said Socrates, “isn’t worth living.” And apparently, Wikipedia proves that we still agree with his sentiment 2400 years later. The Epicurean Dealmaker performed an interesting experiment to demonstrate the intellectual proximity of philosophy to...
Thoughts on the Creation Evolution Debate Between Ken Ham and Bill Nye
I appreciated that both Ken Ham and Bill Nye were willing to engage in a dialogue, as I think such discussions – including this one – help to clarify and test positions. I personally found the two men enjoyable to listen to, and I thought both presented their cases...
Hopelessness, Drugs, and The Deceptive Promise of the Altered State
I haven’t seen many of his films, but even a small sampling shows Philip Seymour Hoffman to be an extraordinary actor with undeniable skill. Sadly, we learn that Hoffman is gone, apparently falling prey to a drug habit that he couldn’t shake. My deepest condolences to...
“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
Answering Richard Dawkins, Part 2
Dawkins Argument #2: There are of course gaps in the fossil record. In the case of the Turbellaria, a large, flourishing and beautiful group of free-living flatworms, the fossil record is one big gap – there are no fossils – and not even a Young Earth Creationist...
Answering Richard Dawkins
I appreciate Dr. Richard Dawkins’ impassioned arguments against creationism, as he challenges his listeners and readers to think through their positions and to offer sound reasons for their conclusions. My focus here is not to argue against his atheism, but is to...
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...
“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)
History of the Problem of Evil, Part 1
The seemingly unavoidable contradiction between the existence of a personal God and the reality of evil provides a crucial point of entry not only for discussion both of (1) argument for and against the existence of God and (2) the nature and character of such a God,...
Hypocrisy, A&E, Phil Robertson, and Us: Lessons to Be Learned
So let’s recap. Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame was quoted in a GQ interview as saying, “It seems like, to me, a vagina – as a man – would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean,...
Aesthetics as an Example of the Cross-Disciplinary Pervasiveness of the Problem of Evil
Where do theology and philosophy intersect, and at what points can they be observed as doing so? For Aquinas, theology was a subset of philosophy – a part, actually. He describes the relationship saying, …all things which “are” are dealt with in the philosophical...
9 Steps for Bible Exegesis and Exposition, Step #7: Identify Theological Context
In Step #6, we considered Biblical context, examining contexts on the basis of immediate and near textual proximity. In Step #7, our concern is theological context – a contextual consideration of theologically (topically) similar passages. The goal here is not to...
Coniah’s Judgment: Did The Grinch Steal Christmas?
In order to fulfill Biblical prophecy, the Messiah had to come from the seed of David. He had to be of the tribe of Judah, in the line of Solomon, yet he could not be of the seed of Coniah, whom (because of a litany of evils) God essentially removed from the royal...
Why I Said “No” to Ghostwriting
Once upon a time, early on in my academic and writing career, I was invited to ghostwrite for a best-selling author (who shall remain anonymous). I recall my initial shock at the request, because in my naïveté I had no idea that there was any such thing as a...
5 Biblical Concepts for Understanding Spiritual Gifts
How do I figure out what spiritual gift I have? How do I use it? What is it for? What if it doesn’t seem like I have any spiritual gifts? Do I have more than one? There are lots of worthy questions about spiritual gifts, and it is very helpful that the Biblical...
What Ethics Can Teach Us About Grace
Once upon a time there was a mirror. I looked in the mirror and to my surprise the face looking back at me was dirty. The mirror could not fix my problem, but without the mirror, I would still be ignorant that I had a problem. “Through law, knowledge of sin.” Romans...
C.S Lewis, on a Uniqueness of Christianity: Merging Two Strands
The following is an excerpt from C.S. Lewis's first of three published letters to Sheldon Vanauken. This one was written on December 14, 1950, and briefly compares religious and philosophical systems. Lewis's argument for the superiority of Christianity is...
The Goal of Pastoral Teaching: Dependence or Independence?
Every week tens of thousands of pastors give messages to millions of people. And then they do it again the next week. And the next. And the next. The cycle repeats as it has year after year after year. But why? How many of these pastors are actually aware of what they...