Is double predestination biblical?
John Piper offers a text-based, compelling answer to this one.
Postponing sanctification
Al Gooderham looks at our tendency to put off doing what we know we really ought to be doing today and how this impacts our sanctification in the long run.
Should joining a church be difficult?
‘If people must be born again to be part of the invisible church, local church members ought to be born again as well. The task before pastors is to navigate these waters and to be convinced of the buoyancy of an experience of grace. This will require pastors to have a robust theology of conversion and wisdom from the Scriptures to evaluate those who seek to join their churches.’
Save time: stop doing word studies
‘Word studies are a favorite [sic] tool of Biblical exegetes, but usually aren’t worth the time. Why not? Because either (1) the work has already been done for you, or (2) what you are trying to “find” can’t be found using a word study.’
Something that will last
‘For Christians, our concern is to see a genuine, lasting and in fact eternal legacy. We don’t just want to be working for things that are temporary.
This is sobering, for those of us who are involved in church planting and pastoring. How much of what we invest our time in will actually last?’
Don’t throw the baby out with the baptismal water
Unsurprisingly, I don’t find this post at all convincing. But it does a good job of explaining how some paedobaptists arrive at their view: ‘While there is no silver bullet verse to settle the matter, there is a clear path of Scriptural steppingstones, a way one can walk to the truth by good and necessary consequence.’
From the archive: If RC Sproul values freedom and democracy, he should revise his view of Northern Ireland
‘My undergrad History & Politics degree focused on Northern Ireland and was undertaken at one of the only universities in the UK with a dedicated Irish Studies department. My dissertation was on the political development of Loyalist paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. When I completed my MA in Theology, my thesis was on the politicisation of Evangelicals in Northern Ireland and their role in the politics of the region. I have also had a paper published in an academic journal on Evangelicals and politics in the region. Whilst I don’t consider myself an expert on these things, it is fair to say I am not entirely unqualified.’