Today marks an anniversary of sorts for this web site, for it was exactly one year ago that I decided to commit to writing on a daily basis. The last day I did not write anything was October 31, 2003. That means I have posted at least something for 365 consecutive days. I do believe…
Today marks the 487th anniversary of the day Martin Luther triggered what is surely one of the greatest acts of God’s grace in all of history when he nailed his ninety five theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Having become increasingly disillusioned with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church,…
James White is a Reformed apologist who specializes in defending the faith against the doctrines of Roman Catholics and Mormons – two groups which deny the doctrine of sola scriptura or Scripture Alone. He is uniquely qualified to write such a book as he is intimately familiar with the arguments against the Bible’s sufficiency. The…
On a mailing list that I am part of, a person asked an interesting question, and one that I have come across before. As a matter of fact, I had been planning on writing about it for some time now, so thought this would be a good opportunity. Her question was about sin and whether…
I believe the extremely busy period of these past couple of weeks is just about over. While it was nice to be busy, I’ll be glad to be able to slow down a little bit next week. If I want to get through 50 books this year (a goal I set myself to begin the…
I entered the theatre fearing the worst. I saw little reason to expect that a movie being distributed in the mainstream markets would be able to do justice to a character so reviled as Martin Luther. While he is a hero to many, to far more he is a villain – sectarian, racist, arrogant and…
In the past 24 hours I have been able to launch two new Web sites. I love launching new sites. Often I have worked on them for hundreds of hours and have toiled over tiny pieces of code for days or even weeks. But then I get to launch them, see the final product, and…
Every believer has at least a passing familiarity with Romans 8:28 which reads “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.” If you’re like me, you probably have lost track of the number of sermons you have heard and books you have…
A member of the community brought to my attention a beautiful message that Bryan Chapell, President of Covenant Theological Seminary, delivered at the funeral of Petros Roukas. Roukas was a pastor who, while suffering from depression, took his life. As I read Chapell’s message, I was struck by his tenderness towards his friend and towards…
I allowed myself a few minutes early this morning to think back about my school days, and in particular my closest friend during those days. This may or may not have been spurred by him registering a comment in the forums yesterday and subsequently sending me an email to announce the birth of his first…
My brother-in-law has a hilarious photo he is submitting to the Photo Friday challenge this week. Well, I think it’s hilarious anyways. The photo is of a note written by my mother who was acting in her grandmotherly position of scribe for my son. Nick was dictating the note on behalf of a store he…
Every week Rick Warren sends out his Ministry Toolbox and it seems he always gives me something to think about. As the man at the leading edge of evangelicalism these days I always pay attention to what he says, for I know it will be only a matter of weeks before many churches follow his…
Guidance and the Voice of God is one of several books I have read recently that discusses the way God speaks to and guides His children. I have turned to these books in response to the words I hear all around me in modern Christianity. People continually ask God to speak to us in circumstances…
Pagan influences are everywhere in our culture. They are often, perhaps even primarily, unnoticed as we have become so attuned to them. Where God tells us to worship Him as the Creator, all paganism is based on somehow worshipping creation. Peter Jones has written this little book, Gospel Truth / Pagan Lies to show some…
We first met Mr. Tweedle a short while after his wife died. To make a bit of extra money he invited a young couple to come and live with him and those people, members of our church, eventually brought him with them on Sunday mornings. I don’t know if he was a believer or not.…
Since the middle of the twentieth century, dynamic equivalency has become standard practice and the vast majority of Bible translations since then have eschewed a literal format in favor of the less-literal approach. The most popular of these is the New International Version, but other popular translations such as the Contemporary English Version, The Message…
“Ramblings” represents a free pass to me. It’s kind of like a “Get out of jail free card.” On those days where I am either really busy, really lazy or completely uninspired (or all of the above), I can just sit back and write about whatever I feel like. Of course I only allow myself…
There have been a couple of occasions on this site where I have written about the evangelical church’s apparent belief that unbelievers are really quite dumb. After all, we treat them as if they are unable to pay attention to anything for more than a few minutes, as if they are unable to enjoy any…
There are few people I admire more than missionaries. They represent such a selfless expression of Christ’s love – people who dedicate their lives to sharing the gospel with those who least want to hear it, but most need to hear it. Not only do they forsake the comforts of Western society and leave behind…
For someone who lives this far north, I have a surprising number of friends and acquaintances who are NASCAR fans. I can’t count the number of times I have heard them defend it as a sport, and not just some sort of car rally. Like most types of sport or entertainment, NASCAR has many who…