The Real Salvation Message

  

In my post yesterday, I listed three key areas in which I believe the church of Jesus Christ is failing in its mission. Today, I’d like to comment on the foundational failure—the watering down of the message of salvation. While this certainly doesn’t apply to all individual churches and Christian leaders, there are far too many who, in their desire to bring people to the faith, make it so palatable that the faith of the apostles is hardly recognizable. The… Read more »

Happy New Year? Why Would We Think So?

  

On January 1st each year we fall into a pattern long emblazoned on our psyche of saying “Happy New Year!” I realize it’s mostly a hope that we hold out, expecting that things certainly have to be better this time around. But on what basis do we hold to such a hope? Is there a solid reason for hoping, or is this more a shadowy, wispy type of wishful thinking? For me, on a personal level, I have what I… Read more »

Lewis: Two Kinds of People

  

C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce is one of my favorite books, as it depicts a fanciful journey from hell to heaven so that those in hell can see what they have missed. Any Lewis book is full of pithy insights. Here’s one from The Great Divorce that I find particularly lucid: There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end,… Read more »

Guns, Violence, & the Heart of Man

  

Some regular readers of this blog might be wondering why I haven’t yet commented on the horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that occurred last Friday. First, I wasn’t even planning on doing blogs this week since my wife was having more surgery and we had to go out of state for that. She has had the surgery and is recovering; all seems well. Second, the blogs earlier in the week were written late last week, about the time… Read more »

C.S. Lewis: The Question of Truth

  

Lewis took on the role of an apologist for the Christian faith. In an essay entitled “Christian Apologetics,” he honed in on one of the big problems Christians have when trying to explain the truth of Christianity. It’s not a problem with the message itself, but with the hearers of the message: One of the great difficulties is to keep before the audience’s mind the question of Truth. They always think you are recommending Christianity not because it is true… Read more »

My Teaching Ministry–Final Thoughts

  

When I began this series last week, I didn’t know it would last this many days. I had thought of providing a general overview, but as it progressed, I sought to share more details. I left out a lot of the pain. As I’ve told a number of people recently, the fact that I still believe in Christian higher education is one of the Lord’s minor miracles. There was a period in which I seriously debated within myself whether to… Read more »

My Teaching Ministry–Part VII

  

While at Patrick Henry, I had searched for a new position for a couple of years, with nothing solid in sight. Then through a third party, I learned Southeastern University (SEU) in Lakeland, Florida, had an open history position as it sought to grow the degree program. I had never heard of SEU. One Google search later, I sent my CV via e-mail. A few hours later, I got a phone call. The next week I had an on-site interview,… Read more »