Jul 24, 2019 | Theology
Those of you who are parents know those moments Madison Avenue has coined as “priceless.” I had one the other night that thrilled my soul when my son said something to the effect, “I’m so glad that God is my salvation.” The subtitled of my book gets at why this was so thrilling for me: “God’s Provision for Building an Enduring Faith in Your Children.” It’s very easy for Christians, saved fallen sinners that we are, to think our salvation is up to us: if we just do the right things, make the right decisions, live the right way, then God will be a little more pleased with us than he otherwise would be. The focus tends inward, subjective, on us, something I’ve taught our kids all their lives is not the Christianity we embrace.
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Jul 16, 2019 | Culture, Theology
God saves sinners. That thought keep ringing in my brain as we recently watched a new documentary about the Brian Welch, the lead guitarist of a heavy metal band called Korn. Loud Krazy Love, is not for the faint of heart (or children), or those sensitive to F-bombs. It portrays the world of heavy metal, after all, so it’s expected. Here’s a description from one review:
Billboard described “Loud Krazy Love” as “part rock doc, part faith testimonial, part family drama.” It’s a fearless coming-of-age story that grapples with faith, teen depression, the quest for identity and the hope of a father willing to do anything for the one he loves. The film explores the relationship between the Welches and how Jennea saved Brian’s life, as he walked away from a $23 million record deal and overcame a crippling addiction to drugs to focus on becoming a good father.
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Jul 13, 2019 | Parents and Family, Theology
At my other blog I’m writing my way through the Bible, one of the best things I’ve ever done, and something I highly recomend for anyone who loves Scripture and likes to write. The last couple mornings I’ve been focused on this passage in Acts, and I make the case that all Jewish Christians, which would have been all the first Christians, would have baptized their children. I think I make a pretty good case. If you’re open or curious, here it is:
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Jul 4, 2019 | Theology
Since everyone else it seems has commented on the unfortunate and untimely death of Ms. Evans, I figured I would as well because there are important lessons to be learned from her short time on this earth. In case you are not familiar with Evans, she was an author, blogger, and provocateur who embraced something called progressive Christianity. This version of the faith is nothing new, having been invented, if you will, in the early 20th century amid the fundamentalist-modernist controversies. Those conflicts gave us “liberal Christianity,” the forerunner of the progressive Christianity of today. (more…)
Jun 22, 2019 | Theology
All Evangelical Christians know what the gospel is, right? It’s the good news (in Greek) that Jesus died for our sins. Unfortunately, most Christians see the gospel as the means of becoming a Christian, and then it’s on to other things, like learning how to become a better Christian. The problem with this mindset is not only that it’s untrue, but that it turns Christianity into moralism, more law than gospel. The former is the means by which sinners think they can gain approval and acceptance before God, and at the same time proves we can’t. Law shows us the need for gospel! But unfortunately we too often confuse the two, and turn law into gospel, and gospel into law. That’s like confusing the Titanic with a rowboat!
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Jun 19, 2019 | Theology
One of the most important things we can teach our children is that people will always let us down. I’ve tried all their lives to teach mine to have realistic expectations about human nature, others and their own. This way when people inevitably do let us down, we are less likely to react in anger or self-pity or revenge, in other words negatively. One of my favorite responses to stories of annoying people in the lives of our kids is a question: Why has God put that person in your life? To learn how to love them! That itself is an annoying truth because it implies that people are not in my life primarily to make me happy, or to make my life easy. No, like everything else in our Christian lives, God uses people for our growth and his glory, and often for their good as well.
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