I AM SORRY TO announce that I will be continuing with earlier plans to suspend writing for this blog. However, it will remain open for people to visit and read from the seven years of posts on various subjects that have been important to me, such as recovery, spirituality, theology, doctrine, apologetics, and poetry. This …
What’s Your Donkey?
JESUS CHRIST, the Lord of all Creation, walked everywhere, every day, for countless miles. In sandals! He rode into Jerusalem on Passover on a donkey! Not in a palanquin with servant-slaves carrying Him. In Western civilization today, we tend to focus on making the best name for ourselves. But God sent Jesus into a broken …
circumstances
I heard Him call my nameand I responded.“Come out on to the water,”He said, “and walk to Me.”I stepped out of the boat,onto the raging sea.Looking into His face, I startedwalking to Him. Suddenly,a loud crack of thunderbroke my gazeand I noticed the crashingof the waves and felt the gale.It began to rain harder.I could …
The Revelation: Part Six
JOHN LOOKED INTO HEAVEN and saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. This scroll is like the one given to Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:9-3:3). John heard a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to …
First Principles Part Five: Living an Overcoming Life
LIVING AN OVERCOMING LIFE requires intentionality and an exercise of faith. It involves following hard after God. Specifically, it features yearning after Him in wonder; choosing a "resurrected" life in Christ. A.W. Tozer warns us that lack of holy desire leads to a stiff and wooden quality in our spirituality. "Complacency is a deadly foe …
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First Principles Part Four: What is Faith?
IT WOULD BE WRONG to say one kingdom principle is greater or more important than another, but I will say these first four we've been discussing are critical to beginning and strengthening our new life in Christ. It is important to identify and defeat the hindrances to living a balanced Christian lifestyle. Watchman Nee wrote, …
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Paul on Reconciliation
REGARDLESS OF WHAT OTHERS think of us, we are forgiven, redeemed, restored, set free from the past. Our lives have been turned around through the grace of God and the power of the cross. Lies, deceit, selfish motivation, manipulation, provocation—all are gone. We were not merely "remodeled" or "refurbished." Rather, the old self has passed …
Apologetics in Post-Christian Culture
APOLOGETICS HAS ITS ORIGIN in Greek rhetorical argument where the proponent presents an ordered defense, including the reasons he or she has for belief in a particular philosophy or religion. There are several ways in which an apologetic can be fashioned. Methods specific to an apologetic for Christianity are Classical, Evidential, Cumulative, and Presuppositional. Each …
“Basic Christianity” by John R.W. Stott
Your call is clear, cold centuries across;You bid me follow you, and take my cross,And daily lose myself, myself deny,And stern against myself shout ‘Crucify’.My stubborn nature rises to rebelAgainst your call. Proud choruses of hellUnite to magnify my restless hateOf servitude, lest I capitulate.The world, to see my cross, would pause and jeer.I have …
Only the Elect: An Exegetical Study
Steven Barto, B.S. Psy., M.A. Theology HOW CAN YOU KNOW if you are one of the "elect?" By simply trusting in Christ alone through faith alone for salvation. Regardless of whether faith leads to election, or election causes us to believe, what is sure is that our belief is evidence of our election. Clearly, the …