What is the Christian’s responsibility toward the people we believe are trying to destroy Christianity, or nullify its influence on our culture? Jesus forthrightly calls these people "enemies". But he redefines how we should respond to enemies. His command is that we show them neither scorn nor withdrawal but that we engage with them. “Love … Continue reading What Does “Loving Our Enemies” Look Like?
Christianity
Ninth Anniversary
I've been in Zagreb since last Tuesday. In that time, we have hosted a group from America (wonderful brothers and sisters from the Cornerstone Christian Church, from Dallas / Farmers Branch, Texas) and hosted a major event (a two day symposium on the spiritual needs of teen agers.) In all the craziness, an important date … Continue reading Ninth Anniversary
God’s Wrath, Miroslav Volf, and Me
Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf (Yale University) wrote in Free of Charge: I used to think that wrath was unworthy of God. Isn’t God love? Shouldn’t divine love be beyond wrath? God is love, and God loves every person and every creature. That’s exactly why God is wrathful against some of them. My last resistance to … Continue reading God’s Wrath, Miroslav Volf, and Me
Brad East on The Atonement Debate
One of my theological interests is the atonement, particularly how we understand and apply it pastorally. Here Brad East, theology professor at Abilene Christian University, wrestles with current discussions of "penal substitutionary atonement", a very popular view of atonement. From Christianity Today: The Way We Debate Atonement Is a Mess This is an article about … Continue reading Brad East on The Atonement Debate
Bible Study Questions for James 1.13-27
I've been teaching a Men's Bible Study early Thursday mornings on the book of James. Here are the notes and questions that we used for discussing James 1.13-27. James 1.13-15 “Tempt” (v 13) is the same Greek word as “trial” (vv. 2-3). The word has at least two meanings: To test, by putting something/someone under … Continue reading Bible Study Questions for James 1.13-27
Assassinations and School Shootings
In light of inflamed passions, I hesitantly offer the following: Political violence and school shootings are essentially the same thing. Am I seeing this correctly? Convince me that I'm wrong. Two days ago, MAGA spokesman and activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an appearance on a college campus. That same day, a school … Continue reading Assassinations and School Shootings
Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance
(A repost from 2019) Daniel 9 is an amazing text. The chapter centers on Daniel’s prayer of repentance. What strikes me is how he repents for sin that he himself did not personally commit; they were his fathers’ sins, Israel’s sins. But Daniel sees himself as responsible for them to some degree. He is grieved … Continue reading Corporate Sin, Corporate Repentance
Evangelical Engagement with Croatian Culture, pt 2
Yesterday I examined two models for evangelical engagement with non-practicing adherents of the state churches in Europe. I suggested that evangelicals should engage in a way modeled after the way the church in the Book of Acts interacted with the Jewish communities that surrounded it. The earliest Christ-followers were Jews themselves, in a country where … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement with Croatian Culture, pt 2
Evangelical Engagement with Croatian Culture, pt 1
How should evangelical Christians engage with Croatian culture? One of the problems that we evangelicals encounter in Europe is the question of how to engage with the state churches--usually Catholicism, but also branches of Reformed, Orthodox, Lutheran, etc., churches. Nothing I faced as an evangelical in America prepared me for the ubiquity of the state … Continue reading Evangelical Engagement with Croatian Culture, pt 1
Circleslide 