The Parable of the Soils and the (Now Dead?) Lordship Salvation Debate
Isn't Luke 8 decisive on the question of Lordship salvation? As I understand it (and I had a little difficulty nailing it down in my research), those who oppose "Lordship salvation"—the Zane Hodges, Charles Ryrie, Grace Evangelical Society side—says that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved, no matter what they do subsequently. In their view, insisting that a new convert take Jesus as Lord and not just Savior (in other words, demanding repentance) is adding "works" to grace....
Review: The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family
The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family by Andrew Himes My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was enjoyable and interesting (worth every bit of 99 cents!), though a little strange. The parts I most enjoyed were biographical, especially the personal insights from Andrew's childhood. I also enjoyed his historical forays (though he did a lot of guessing about what his forebears must have been thinking). But there was a great deal of history that didn't seem to belong....
Make Them Like a Wheel
I'm a Bible curriculum author for high school students. I love my job. And one neat aspect of my duties is answering occasional letters like the following from high school kids around the country: I have a question about something that I read in the Bible the other day. In Psalm 83:13, David is asking God to destroy his enemies and he asks God to make them like a wheel. Why would he ask for them to made like a wheel? What's negative about wheels? Just curious. Here's the verse the student was...
Review: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, Updated and Expanded Edition
Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, Updated and Expanded Edition by John Piper My rating: 4 of 5 stars Brothers, We Are Not Professionals is not a new book. It's been reviewed before. But the second edition is new, and six chapters in it are, too. So I will focus this review on those new chapters: 4, 6, 13, 18, 22, 27. Those chapters were added for various reasons: Piper added chapters 4 and 6 "for theological reasons where I felt I needed greater...
Beautiful Words from John Donne
I've listened for years to this beautiful choral track (the piece is also on this King's Singers album), and I'm ashamed to say I've never thought to look up the whole text from which it came. I'm glad I finally did. This is beautiful, soul-stirring stuff: If I should declare what God hath done (done occasionally,) for my soul, where He instructed me for fear of falling, where He raised me when I was fallen, perchance you would rather fix your thoughts upon my illness, and wonder at that, than...