Between the Trees

“If the aim of the church is to grow, the way to do it is to make people feel good. And when people discover that there are other ways to feel good, they leave the church they no longer need. The relevant church is sowing the seeds of its own irrelevance, and losing its identity [...]

“For, to begin with, the pious mind does not dream up for itself any god it pleases, but contemplates the one and only true God. And it does not attach to him whatever it pleases, but is content to hold him to be as he manifests himself; furthermore, the mind always exercises the utmost diligence [...]

That’s what I kept telling myself tonight as I wrote my first column for the student newspaper at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. (The unedited version is printed below… if anyone has criticisms, please post them before late afternoon on Sunday, they’ll be helpful to have in mind when I go to edit with my [...]

That is the final question children at Covenant Life Church were asked when they were interviewed for a video about their former pastor, C.J. Mahaney, that was shown the weekend when Pastor Mahaney transferred the pastorate to Joshua Harris. What was so beautiful about this video was the answer to that final question- the child, [...]

The other day I was reading a discussion by several Christians about the involvement of Christians in politics (unfortunately, I cannot remember the site or I would link to it). One person mentioned Abraham Kuyper’s idea about “Sphere Sovereignty”. Another person protested by saying that “Kuyper was a racist… and sphere sovereignty undermines the idea [...]

I was visiting today with a good friend who studies Medieval theology, and we ended up visiting about Catholic mysticism and the whole idea of things in Christianity being “mysterious”. It seems to me that mystery is something which we are unwilling to deal with as Christians today. Either we are innately suspicious of it, [...]

Well-known Christian apologist J.P. Moreland has an article discussing what he thinks Jesus would have to say about nationalized health care.
Personally, I’m not sure what to think of Moreland’s argument. On one hand, I can at least see where he’s coming from when he says that the Scriptures teach that, “The state exists to guard [...]

Jake and I are updating the layout and function of the blog. Let me know if there’s things you like or dislike. Thanks for your patience!

Earlier this year Dr. Tim Keller and Dr. D.A. Carson, along with a number of young, evangelical pastors from around the states, started a group called The Gospel Coalition. I strongly suggest checking out their site and watching the interviews. I’m also hoping to watch some of the plenary talks, but I haven’t got to [...]

Recently I’ve been following several ongoing discussions in the blogosphere, and what has struck me as I read his how we so easily fall into the trap of theological reductionism. I’m especially thinking of an ongoing discussion between emerging Christians (especially the more liberal in the group, those from or related to Emergent Village) and [...]