Category: Theology
-
Unless Worship Is for Us, We Cannot Worship with Our Whole Heart—part 2
Our worship is almost always not biblical. By that I mean if you look at the psalms, a model of worship songs, the songs we pick often don’t line up. The reason for this is that the psalms are not an abstract regurgitation of God’s character and blessings. They are not only outwards towards God…
-
The Gospel is not the Center of the Christian Life
One common answer given when you ask a Christian what is the center of the Christian life is the gospel. However, the gospel is not the center of the Christian faith and life. The gospel is important, the gospel changes lives, indeed it is the very power of God unto salvation for all who believe,…
-
Heaven is not the goal of Christian salvation
Heaven, as a place apart from the earth, is not the goal of the Christian life, and to present this heaven as a sort of goal for the Christian life is a disservice to the gospel itself. The Bible doesn’t say much about heaven, but one thing is for sure, heaven, or at least the…
-
Salvation is not the same as having Assurance
One common refrain I hear often is “are you sure you’re going to heaven?” But how can I even ask this question if I question whether or not that answer is yes for myself. Evangelicalism has not reflected deeply on its theology of assurance and of faith and how that theology has related to the…
-
The Gospel Is not Everything
The gospel is not everything. By this I mean to say that the gospel isn’t necessarily this message of the holiness of God and sin (and indeed it is not). It is not the message of heaven (though that may be a result). The gospel is much more focused than that. Pure and simple, the…
-
I don’t want to be Christian
The more I understand Christianity and Christ the more that I don’t want to be Christian, and yet the more I can’t help myself from being so. Christianity is about grace, it is about how a God who is love has provided a means for a wayward people to come back to himself in the…
-
God Became Man so that We Might Be Made God
The Son of God was made man so that we might be made God Athanasius, On the Incarnation §54 When I first heard this astounding quote I was repulsed and revolted by the idea that man might become God. Christianity is, after all, not polytheistic. We are at our core monotheistic and the very idea…
-
Faith and Obedience
Recently I have been reading Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship where Bonhoeffer talks about the nature and meaning of true Christian discipleship—the purpose of Christianity. Reading it, I was most struck by how Bonhoeffer frames the relationship between works and faith. only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes. Thinking more about…
-
Holiness is not Everything, God Really IS Love
Christians who have tried to hold true to the character of God cringe when it is commonly said that “God is love” as if positive feelings were the sum of what it means to be Christian. And this is a valid concern because for many people, Christianity is merely a means to feel loved and…
-
I am a creationist
These are my thoughts on the recent debate between Ken Ham and Bill Nye I am a creationist. I agree with the central premise that Ken Ham put forth: God created the world by the breath of his mouth and the work of his hands. But not just that! I am also a student of…
Defined Faith 