Victory in Jesus

Clinging to Christ in Cultural Chaos – Part 4

September 30, 2020 by Allen Nelson IV

We have been examining Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8. “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel…” We have already seen an exhortation to cling to Christ’s humanity. In the last post we were encouraged to cling to His divinity, victory, and prophecy. Today, […]

Clinging to Christ in Cultural Chaos — Part 3

September 22, 2020 by Allen Nelson IV

We are now examining Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8. “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel…” In the last post I encouraged you to remember Christ’s humanity. Today, I want us to remember to: Cling to His Divinity We live in a day […]

Garrett O’Hara

Garrett appears to have originated the term, but not the theology, "dispybapticalvinistic-expialidocious." He is a husband, a father of four children, a U.S. Navy veteran, and a semi-truck driver. He also holds a Th.M. in New Testament paid for mostly by the Post-9/11 GI Bill (don't tell Mikey Weinstein).

Michael Coughlin

Michael Coughlin lives near Columbus, OH, and leads local outreaches to glorify our Lord and reach the lost with the gospel. Michael’s joys are spending time with his dear wife and children, programming computers, and studying and discussing God’s Word. He is a member of Covenant Bible Church.

George Alvarado

George Alvarado is an almost retired member of our Armed Forces (yes, he's older than he looks). He has a beautiful wife, a very tall son, and currently teaches at Pilgrim Bible Church in Washington. He is also an author, blogger, apologist, evangelist, and podcaster. He loves spending time with his family and friends, traveling, photography, and continuing his studies in linguistics and theology.

Chuck Ivey

By God’s grace, Chuck Ivey grew up in a Christian home and came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at a young age. He has been married to his wife Ashley for 20 years. They have seven high energy children by adoption (yes seven), also by God’s grace. Chuck works full time in local law enforcement as an investigator and chaplain. He serves as a deacon and teacher at Beech Haven Baptist Church in Athens, GA. Chuck is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters of Theological Studies. Coffee and books are involved. You can follow hi...

Allen Nelson IV

Allen S. Nelson IV is the pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas. He and his wife Stephanie have been married since 2006 and have 5 children. Besides enjoying time with his family, Allen loves teaching the Bible, reading good books, and time outdoors. He is the author of From Death to Life: How Salvation Works and Before The Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness He is an avid Dallas Cowboys and Arkansas Razorbacks fan, which means he's always excited about 'next year.' You can follow him on twitter @cuatronelson.

Reformed Systematic Theology – Vol 2: Man and Christ (book review)

Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 2: Man and Christ effectively balances academic theological precision with devotional posture.

Ep. 013 | Kofi Interview — TAU Roundtable

Tune in as we get to know the writers of Things Above Us. Up first is our token Brit, Kofi Adu-Boahen. See all posts in this series

Miles Wide and Inches Deep? How Discipleship Failure is Ruining Us – Part 1

One of the great passions of my life is discipleship – “teaching [believers] to observe all that [Christ] has commanded [us]”. There is something powerful about the truth taking ground in the heart of another believer who then takes that truth and passes it on to another believer who passes it on, and so the […]

How I Met George

The Introduction In early 2016, my friend Ricky Gantz of G220 Radio asked me if I would like to talk on his radio show about whether a person should continue to do evangelism if their local church tells them not to. It was a casual conversation with a guy named George Alvarado whom I had […]

Book Review — The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls

The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls takes its title from the Reformation era conviction that justification by faith is the dividing line between the biblical gospel and man-centered efforts to earn favor with God. Matthew Barrett serves as editor and co-author with several significant theologians. In the forward, D.A. Carson writes that nothing is more important than the subject of this massive volume (15). The book is organized into four parts, grouping the chapters by looking at justification according to what the Bible itself teaches, theological perspectives on the doctrine, church history, and pastoral practice.

Psalm 119:165-168 — Cause → Effect

It has been said that there are two religions in the world: the religion of grace and the religion of works. A distinguishing characteristic of the religion of works is that somehow the good deeds a man does are what pleases his deity. This is true whether that religion sees man as inherently good or as innately sinful. Since this is an affront to the gospel of grace, our Scriptures go to great lengths to destroy any hope men can have to save themselves by proclaiming the gospel of grace (Romans 3:24,25; Ephesians 2:8, 9). But wicked men will always twist good religion to their own ends and many a man has proclaimed the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ apart from works as a license to sin.

One of the ways God helps us to walk in his ways while we strive to imitate Christ is by granting us awareness of His immanence. Nothing can be hidden from the anthropomorphic eyes of God. For the heathen, this truth is blatantly denied as they fancy themselves into thinking they will escape judgment. It’s not always because men think they are good that they shall escape judgment, but sometimes it is that they think no one knows of their crimes. The child of God whose heart has been quickened earnestly desires obedience to God’s precepts and adherence to God’s testimonies, yet he or she still finds it difficult to obey. The spirit and flesh are opposed to each other and the battle rages, and sometimes the flesh wins.