by Managing Editor | Dec 14, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, The Bible, Theology
Guest Post by Joost Nixon Last year on a rainy day near Kathmandu, a Nepali friend and I were on an evening errand for milk. We were tight-rope walking on top of walls because the rain had transformed the dirt roads into goo. Our route took us near a rare unplowed...
by Ben Zornes | Dec 11, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, Science, Theology
We knew it would only be a matter of time before this sort of thing becomes more common. A couple of women who identify as men have a child, which they have decided to not assign a gender to, and thus allow their child the freedom to “discover” itself. You can watch...
by Managing Editor | Dec 10, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, The Bible, Theology, Worldview
Guest Post by Jared Longshore Secularism is all in a tizzy. She is hot and pouty. She’s fired up and making her demands. She’s defying the armies of the living God, and she’s soft as cotton… which is not a good combo. God’s people have...
by Managing Editor | Dec 10, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, Theology, Worldview
Guest Post By C.R. Wiley A lot of ink has been spilled on the subject of fragility, particularly when it comes to young people—you know, safe-spaces, and coloring books on college campuses, and all of that. And while I could add my voice to the chorus, I think...
by Managing Editor | Dec 10, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, Theology, Worldview
By Jesse Sumpter You can’t make this stuff up. A 69 year old Dutch man, named Emile Ratelband, has decided he wants to identify as a 40 year old. He has even asked a court in his hometown to make it legal and change his birth certificate to say he was born on March...
by Jason Farley | Jul 26, 2018 | Abortion, Culture, Fight, Jason Farley, Politics, Theology, Uncategorized
What happens if Roe vs. Wade is overturned? That would be, no doubt, a good thing. We should rejoice when it happens. But how much of America’s difficulties are centered in the decisions of the Supreme Court? As a law, it is a judicial tragedy. But it is not enough to...
by George Grant | Jun 13, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, Current affairs, Fight, Fight Featured Post, George Grant, History, Politics, The Bible, Theology, Theology, Worldview
In his Confessions, Augustine (354-430) describes mankind’s universal sinful bent as “concupiscence.” The Greek word epithumia (ἐπιθυμία) occurs 38 times in the New Testament. It describes the utter enfeebling of mankind’s freedom of will through the bondage of sin....
by George Grant | May 26, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, Fight Featured Post, George Grant, History, Religion, Theology, Theology, Worldview
Haarlem is a beautiful little Dutch town on the River Spaarne, fifteen minutes by train from Amsterdam. Founded sometime in the 10th century, in 1245 it was granted city status or stadsrechten and was made the capital of the province of North Holland. By the 14th...
by George Grant | May 7, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, George Grant, Religion, The Bible, Theology, Worldview
When I was in seminary, the “Church Growth Movement” was just getting its sea legs. So, of course, it was all the rage in the hallowed halls of academia—if not amongst the profs, most assuredly amongst their charges. Filled with uninformed enthusiasm my peers tended...
by George Grant | Apr 26, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, George Grant, History, Religion, Theology, Theology
The years leading up to the Scottish Disruption and those immediately afterward produced some of the most remarkable servants of God in the history of the church. Andrew Alexander Bonar (1810-1892) was a member of that galaxy of brilliant, Reformed Scots preachers,...
by Jason Farley | Apr 17, 2018 | Arts, Blog, Book Reviews, Feast, Jason Farley, Theology
Having recently had The Rev. Joseph Carlson as a Guest on the recent episode of CrossPolitic, I thought it might be nice to get one of his sonnets before you. This is for the 24th Sunday of the Trinity Season in his book of Sonnets for the Church Year. Waiting Four...
by admin | Apr 5, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Fight, Politics, Theology
Idaho Senator Bob Nonini has come under fire recently for nodding his head in agreement with the view that those who murder a baby in the womb should face criminal charges. CrossPolitic hosted a live show interviewing three of the Republican candidates for Lt....
by George Grant | Apr 4, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, George Grant, History, Religion, The Bible, Theology
In his classic book, The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul bemoans the absence from our vocabulary of certain, once-familiar, King James Version words. It wasn’t so much the loss of antiquated verb forms like walketh and talketh, or sayest and mayest that bothered him. It...
by Jason Farley | Mar 31, 2018 | Arts, Blog, Feast, Jason Farley, Theology
“The Church is like a great ship sailing the sea of the world and tossed by the waves of temptation in this life.” St. Boniface, letter 78 From the very beginning of our lives, we are dependent upon received grace. Grace that we have never given. Grace that we cannot...
by Jason Farley | Mar 8, 2018 | Arts, Feast, Jason Farley, Theology, Uncategorized
Hannah, thank you for joining us at the Westminster Confession of Funk hosted by CrossPolitic. The Clouds Ye So Much Dread was such a delight to read. But it is obvious that a lot of tears and pain was required to fill this particular pen with ink. Do you find it...
by Jason Farley | Mar 5, 2018 | Arts, Blog, Feast, Jason Farley, Theology
Wing Lift Psalm 91:3-4 Death-wrenched, life-drenched, each pinched soul fledged to soar on raptorial sails. A fowler-freed fire-bred goldfinch, carols unhitched, stretching and reaching, on wind-held wings. Held in glide and lift, windhover pinion, piloted upwards,...
by George Grant | Mar 3, 2018 | Blog, Culture, George Grant, History, Religion, The Bible, Theology
“And thus was he called Ichabod, for the glory of the Lord had departed.” 1 Samuel 4:21 The rising tide of heresy in the latter half of the fourth century very nearly engulfed the entire church. Most of the Nicean fathers had either passed into glory or were...
by George Grant | Feb 26, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, George Grant, The Bible, Theology, Theology, Uncategorized
“Jeremiad.” Definition: an elaborate and prolonged lamentation; a cry of woe; and expression of righteous indignation. “Nehemiad.” Definition: an elaborate and prolonged humiliation; a cry of grief; an expression of righteous repentance. Well might we plead the case...
by George Grant | Feb 5, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, Fight, Fight Featured Post, George Grant, Politics, Religion, Theology, Theology, Worldview
It is one of the great ironies of our day that Christians can pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” and not actually mean anything by it. Indeed, it is a stunning paradox that we can live as if such a prayer could not be answered. Even worse, we can...
by George Grant | Jan 9, 2018 | Blog, Culture, Culture, George Grant, History, Theology, Theology
A doxology is a short chorus of praise to the Lord, often sung as a stand-alone piece or as a coda at the conclusion of psalms, hymns, or canticles. The word comes from the Greek doxa, meaning “appearance” or “glory,” and logia, meaning “study” or “declaration.”...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Oct 28, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Theology
It’s common these days for heretical teachers to point out something that is clearly in the text of Scripture and then act as if there is some kind of misty significance to it all that those truncated fundie Bible teachers must have missed. Then when all is said and...
by Tyler Hatcher | Oct 13, 2017 | Culture, Theology
Recap In this series, we’ve been dealing with some of the idols in the world that need to be torn down and the fact that Christians keep their own version of these idols in their hearts. Same-sex mirage out there is akin in some ways to fornication and sexual...
by Brianna Bratrud | Oct 3, 2017 | Arts, Feast, Theology
This autumn marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s pinning of the ninety-five theses. Whether you’re Lutheran or not, Luther and the Reformers’ impact on the world is undeniable, unforgettable. Of all Luther’s works, the De Servo...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Sep 15, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Culture, Theology
Given what Bell has said so far about the Bible, a brief excursus about the doctrine of Scripture would be helpful. As I have pointed out, one of Bell’s problems is that he will simply not accept some things that the Bible says, especially what the Bible says about...
by Moses Bratrud | Aug 23, 2017 | Theology
A Church for the Next Generation, Part Three In the past two posts, we’ve looked at whether young people are going to church less, and why some young people leave the church. Now I want to answer another why question: if the church is as stuffy and old-fashioned as...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Aug 18, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Politics, Science, Theology
Most of us have been pulled over by a cop. Imagine for a moment that this happens to you. The cop flashes his lights, you dutifully pull over, hand over your license and registration. He informs you that he pulled you over because you didn’t stop at the stop sign. You...
by Tyler Hatcher | Aug 16, 2017 | Culture, Theology
Here There Be Idols Our hearts are idol factories (quote cred: Calvin, somewhere). We can make anything and everything an idol that we put in the place of God. We all agree that our culture has erected many idols around us. And they demand our worship. In order to...
by Moses Bratrud | Aug 10, 2017 | Theology
The world was made for us. It’s a comforting idea, isn’t it? And for many thousands of years, humans believed it was true. Our ancestors looked up at the sky and saw a bright yellow ball which lit our days and warmed our skin. There were plants and animals for us to...
by Moses Bratrud | Aug 1, 2017 | Theology
Part two in the series “A Church for the Next Generation” In my last post, I took a quick look at church attendance among young people and concluded that the fear-mongering about young people leaving the church was wrong and misplaced. For example, I showed that the...
by Moses Bratrud | Jul 20, 2017 | Theology
Post One in the series “A Church for the Next Generation” The church, we are told, is graying rapidly. Churches in rural areas are shrinking as Americans migrate to the cities, while churches in urban areas are not the bastions of ethnic and religious solidarity they...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Jul 6, 2017 | Blog, Culture, Politics, Theology
What should Christians think of building “The Wall”? Conservative think-tank PragerU has produced a video giving some very practical reasons for building a border wall between America and Mexico. But, as Christians, we should not be...
by Ben Zornes | Jun 19, 2017 | Blog, Culture, Theology
The Church of England has been cowed. We’ve known this for years, but it is rapidly capitulating and scrambling to “origami” itself into something that will appease the sensibilities of the culture. Rev. Chris Newlands is proposing a motion to the General Synod next...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Jun 15, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Culture, Theology, Uncategorized
In chapter one, “Moses and His Moisture,” Bell sets a precedent for how he argues in for the rest of the book. The two biggest problems he has are that, with a single exception in the whole book, he does not provide any citation for obscure cultural or...
by Brittany Martin | Jun 13, 2017 | Culture, Theology
Classical education has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in both Christian and secular schools. The Association of Classical Christian Schools is just over 20 years old and has members around the world. Secular educators have noted the success of the classical...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Jun 8, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Theology
In the introduction to “What is the Bible?” Bell clearly indicates he is a fan of good exegesis and scholarship. “So I went to seminary, and I studied Greek and Hebrew (the two languages the Bible was originally written in), and I studied history and...
by Moses Bratrud | Jun 7, 2017 | Abortion, Theology
You’re eighteen years old, single, and pregnant, and you’re keeping your baby. I am proud of you. Before we go any further, I just want to say: you go, girl. I want to support you in any way that I can. I want the church to support you in every way that it can. But. I...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Jun 1, 2017 | Blog, Book Reviews, Culture, Theology
Rob Bell’s new book “What is the Bible?” seems to be on a trajectory that will cause a stir in American evangelicalism. His book requires a response, but I think a few words need to be said first about why responding to him is necessary. Rob Bell is a...
by Jason Farley | May 24, 2017 | Arts, Culture, Feast, Jason Farley, Movie Reviews, Science, Theology
It is true that nobody makes a new earth without first making a new heaven. – G. K. Chesterton (Ffinch 1986, 278) I have recently been wondering, if I were to travel to Krypton, would the sun give me superpowers? Or would Krypton’s sun, being red and therefore...
by Brian Points | May 15, 2017 | Blog, Culture, Politics, Theology, Uncategorized
Recently President Trump delivered welcome news to defense contractors across the country when he announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) budget would increase by $54 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, representing a 10% increase in military spending (Cohen,...
by Moses Bratrud | May 12, 2017 | Culture, Theology
Of the many myths about church attendance in the United States, one of the most enduring is that “educated people are too smart to go to church.” Our system of education, which has been so effectively secularized, is not expected to create committed Christians, and...
by Jason Farley | May 11, 2017 | Blog, Culture, Jason Farley, Theology
A common mistake new poets make is to only write from their own perspective. To be powerful, a poem must be confessional self-revelation. But this poetry will inevitably run into two major problems (besides probably being boring and temporary, because when we are...
by Seth Bloomsburg | Apr 25, 2017 | Book Reviews, Theology, Uncategorized
The doctrine of the Trinity is summarized by seven basic propositions: 1. The Father is God. (Phil. 1:2, Eph. 4:6) 2. The Son is God. (Col. 2:9, Phil. 1:2) 3. The Holy Spirit is God. (2 Cor. 3:17, Acts 5:3-4) 4. The Father is not the Son. (John 10:30, Phil. 2:9) 5....
by Seth Bloomsburg | Apr 11, 2017 | Politics, Theology
CNN reported on April 7th, 2017, that “The United States launched a military strike Thursday on a Syrian government airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier in the week. On President Donald Trump’s orders, US...
by Ben Zornes | Mar 1, 2017 | Blog, Theology
Recently, this video recirculated, and those posting it were chest thumping at the smackdown this clip gives to Bible believing Christians. I thought I would take this opportunity to point out an inescapable fact that sentiments like this try to dodge. The fictional...
