I should probably get back to working on the book manuscript I wrote. Back in May, I posted an excerpt called “The Need for Justification.” This is the portion that follows. Just and Merciful But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God (being testified by the Law and the Prophets) has been made […]
Theology
Is Gambling Okay?
The Question After we published our second playoff roundtable episode for the year, I received a question via email from a listener. Would you consider friendly wagers of $5–10 sinful? I think this is a question worth answering, and I’ll attempt to do it with brevity rather than an in-depth analysis. Does Context Matter? My […]
God’s Hatred of Sin and the Coming Judgment
Since God is unchangeably holy, His hatred of sin has not changed. God will always have an intense hatred for sin. One day, Christ will return to judge the nations, and those who have not bowed the knee to the Lord of hosts will suffer His great wrath. Revelation 14:19–20 says, So the angel swung […]
Socially Responsible Investing Choices, part 3 — Conscience, China, and Putting it Together
In part 1 of this series, I discussed the concept of ESG investing from a secular standpoint and evaluated the screening of GuideStone Funds, the Southern Baptist Convention financial services arm. In part 2, I evaluated three more Christian providers of investment funds and discussed the dollar value of ESG investing. Here in part 3, […]
Unconditional Election
The biblical doctrine of election is God’s unconditional, eternal, immutable, particular, and effectual choice to save specific persons in Christ according to His own pleasure and not on the basis of foreseen faith or merit. This precious doctrine is the wellspring of every other salvific blessing believers experience for without election, other tenets of soteriology […]
Book Review — Zondervan Single Column Reference Premier Collection
Zondervan’s Premier Collection NASB Single Column Reference is a beautiful presentation of God’s Word in the renowned NASB 1995 translation. The materials and typesetting make this a Bible that can compete with similar, more expensive Bibles on the premium market.
Socially Responsible Investing Choices, part 2 — More Alternatives and Dollar Value
In part 1, we discussed secular “ESG” investing choices and did an overview of GuideStone’s negative investment screening. In this post, we’ll look at some firms that claim positive screening and consider whether these are worthwhile for the individual investor. We’ll then consider the costs of such fund choices and whether they are worth their fees. […]
What Happens When You Die?
I had a seminary assignment recently that I thought might be a benefit to our readers. I’m posting it in its entirety below. The Question You learn that a dear older lady in your church is dying of colon cancer, so you promptly begin visiting her in the hospital. She is delighted to see you, […]
2021 Resolutions
One of the reasons we make resolutions is that we are people who do better with some type of regimen or schedule. We rarely naturally drift into a variety of positive habits for our lives, so we need a plan. Think about it, do you need to commit to eating poorly, or does that just […]
Socially Responsible Investing Choices, part 1 — Secular “ESG” and GuideStone Funds
Every so often, the advertisements on my social media feeds become heavily saturated with “socially responsible” or “ESG” investing products. There are also get plenty of “non-responsible” investing products and perhaps even a few overtly “sinful” investing products such as VICE (alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc.) and TOKE (cannabis!). Lots of us are going to be […]
My Top 7 Books of 2020
It would seem that with the large amount of downtime we had in 2020 back in the Spring, that I might have read more books this year, but all in all, this was probably a below-average year in terms of reading. A lot of that was probably due to Seminary work as well as finishing […]
Received Into the Number: A Theology of Adoption Part X- R.C. Sproul’s Doctrine of Adoption
R.C. Sproul possessed a once in a generation gift for communicating complex, rigorous truths with a winsome and accessible style.
Ep. 044 | Royal Deceptions: Exposing the King James Only Conspiracies Against God’s Word with Fred Butler — TAU Roundtable
Chuck Ivey and Michael Coughlin are joined by Fred Butler to talk about Fred’s important new book on the dangers of King James Onlyism.
Children’s Book Review — Just Nicholas by Annie Kratzsch
About the Book From Amazon: Read the true story of Saint Nicholas of Myra, the man who gave what he had to help others because he was grateful for what God had given him. As a young boy, Nicholas learned the story of Jesus from his parents. When he grew up, he lived out his […]
How to Know if You’re Elect
For an upcoming project I’ve been reading some of Wilhelmus A. Brakel’s (1635–1711) The Christian’s Reasonable Service. It’s a four-volume work on which Reformation Heritage Books has a great price (link). The other night I was reading in Volume 1 on his treatment of election and reprobation. Toward the end of that chapter, he gave […]
LSB, NASB 2020, NASB 1995: Three-Way Comparisons in Psalm 65 and Mark 4
With the recent release of the LSB text of Psalm 65, we now have an opportunity to examine the LSB’s handling of an Old Testament passage in addition to the earlier release of the entire Gospel of Mark. Psalm 65 Within Psalm 65, a line-by-line glance through the highlights reveals that only a handful of […]
Why Aren’t More People Christians?
I live in the Bible Belt. This is a place that certainly has a lot of bad teaching in terms of theology. But there is also great access to the gospel. And sometimes I wonder, “Why aren’t more people Christians?” Sure, I understand God is wholly sovereign in salvation. And I rejoice in this! (see […]
One Way God Judges
What is the Problem? We draw people to the Savior by proclaiming God’s holiness whenever we have the chance. It is the contrast between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness that is often used to cause men to tremble in fear before the Lord and repent and believe in Christ. To avoid declaring God’s holiness to […]
Book Review — Kingdom Through Covenant – 2nd Edition
In Kingdom Through Covenant – 2nd Edition, Gentry and Wellum have given us a much needed updated to their seminal work on the biblical covenants. Whether one finds their arguments convincing or not, theologians who argue for or against covenant theology or dispensationalism will eventually have to consider the claims made by the authors.
A Open Letter to Afflicted Saints
To my dear afflicted Saint, I write this with tears that have been recently mixed with emotional pain and grief. I know what it feels like to have people text, email, and call you, and still receive no comfort. I mean, it’s nice to know that people are thinking and praying for you. But the […]