Fear and Trembling

I have taken several months off from blogging.  I have used the time to prepare a series of Sunday School Lessons on J. I. Packer’s wonderful little book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God .  I will lead a discussion of this book at my little church in Troy, TN .  I want to put in a plug for this book. One of the things that put me off of Calvinism when I was first introduced to the doctrines of grace was the idea that Calvinism destroyed the motive for evangelism and missions.  It took a long time for me to come around.  There are many others who reject Calvinism for the same reasons. Packer is clear in his book that the “antinomy” between God’s sovereignty (God’s control of all things) and man’s free will (man’s freedom of choice) is a mystery that will not be completely sorted out in this life.  Along with others, (see John Piper’s short article here , and a discussion by R. C. Sproul in Chosen by God ), I am somewhat troubled with the use o...

Christianity Today says "no" at this link .

I finished the book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan (Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2008) . The book is a strong call to the kind of Christian discipleship that can change a person’s life and change our world for the better. (See also the website associated with this book for information and supplemental videos and other materials.) This book is a strong call to the life of obedience that necessarily follows faith in Christ. But anytime a strong call to discipleship and obedience is issued, it can be misunderstood. I wanted to post a quick look at the underlying assumption of the book: the grace of Almighty God as demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This grace is the righteousness of God that is earned for us in Jesus and credited to us through faith ( Romans 3:21-31 ). Our constant and consistent sin against a Holy God is a source of guilt and shame among Christians. Chan describes the problem and provides help: S...

Psychology, the way people think, has always been a fascination of mine. I took enough psychology classes in college to have been awarded a minor, but the engineering department did not want to award it (some things hard-core engineers will not “sink” to do). Great care must be used by a Christian in this area (especially if we are tempted to supplant the gospel ), but the concepts can often be redeemed . Temperament theory has roots in the psychology of Carl Jung , but can be traced back to Hippocrates . It is undeniably imperfect, and some have even rejected the theories altogether. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator has probably been the most successful application of these theories. (Note: be wary of some of the information on web sites that talk about Myers-Briggs. Good guidelines are located here .) I am an INJT (see here and here ). I am not unique in this . By type, I keep my feelings “close to my vest.” One INTJ put it like this, “I have deep feelings; they are just none of y...

Often in debates with atheists, Christians are accused of doing good (being moral) merely to escape the judgment of God. Twice I have had an atheist tell me that they would fair okay if they were to face God’s judgment because, after all, their good works were done merely because they were good and not out of fear of punishment. Fear of judgment is to some an impure motive for morality. At the heart of an accusation like this is a misunderstanding of the gospel itself. I want to show that the gospel frees us from having to search our motives, which are often impure, and live our lives for the God who made us. Along the way, I will express the main message of the Bible: the gospel. Expressed simply, the gospel is the fact that God offers eternal life as a free gift. Eternal life is a right relationship with God, enjoyed now and in eternity. Paul wrote, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” As a gift, eternal life is not earne...