Bible, theology, culture, etc.
There is a “bikini barista” coffee hut down the street from my church. I pass it daily on my way into the office. It is next to a main road, easily visible by all, yet always has cars (pick-up trucks, to be precise) in the drive-thru. Sometimes I wonder what would compel a girl to … Continue reading Sex Is About a Face, Not a Body
Augustine’s Confessions detail approximately a 15-year-long struggle with God. His journey wanders through Manicheism, skepticism, and neoplatonism, before seriously considering the Christianity his mother taught him at a young age. After meeting regularly with the bishop, Ambrose, and attending church, Augustine’s intellectual arguments against Christianity (and the Bible) fade. He becomes compelled by the beauty and truth of … Continue reading The Habits of a Reluctant Convert
In Jerry Sittser’s painful memoir, A Grace Disguised, he recounts how suffering can grow your soul. And his words carry a certain heft because he writes from overwhelming firsthand experience. A drunk-driver killed his wife, his mother, and his four-year-old daughter in one tragic accident. The book is an expansive meditation on his own grief, and how … Continue reading You Aren’t Your Feelings
The church is not a building but a people—but the church is a people who must gather. Thus, for a church to exist, it must have a location to gather in. And since meeting outdoors limits the gathering (weather, sound, distractions, etc.), this usually means some kind of building. More pragmatically, as many young church plants can … Continue reading 12 Brief Thoughts on Church Buildings
When I lived in Kentucky, our next door neighbor was a woman in her eighties who had raised her children, raised her grandchildren, and was now in the process of raising her great-grandchildren, two scrappy boys; eight and ten-years-old. Their faces were often covered with Cheetos dust; her’s were lined with decades of care and … Continue reading Are You a Victim or Villain?
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to love, and a time to hate. - Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8 When I sat down to speak with a young, confused teenage girl about following Christ, she opened up a veritable fountain of questions, statements, and beliefs that all veered … Continue reading Holy Hatred
Note: This article is not intended to provide the kind of counsel needed for those contemplating suicide. This is intended to consider the issue theologically and biblically. If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, please seek out a trusted friend, counselor, or pastor to speak to. When Rome was sacked by the Goths … Continue reading Can Christians Commit Suicide?
This is part three of a summary of the best arguments for cessationism. You can read part one and part two, and the best arguments for continuationism here. Experiential Arguments Experiential arguments are not terribly persuasive since they are limited to the experiences of the individual, and those experiences themselves must be interpreted. Yet, while lacking deductive power, they … Continue reading The Best Arguments for Cessationism (Pt. 3)
The following is a lengthy excerpt from Robert L. Saucy’s chapter “An Open But Cautious View” in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views. Although Saucy is not defending the Cessationist perspective (Richard B. Gaffin Jr.), his chapter leans fairly strongly in that direction, particularly when he addresses the issue of church history. The conclusion that the … Continue reading A Historical Argument for Cessationism
There are plenty of resources out there that answer other questions about what marriage is and is not. I do not intend to answer those questions in this article, at least not directly. My aim here is to imagine I were sitting down with you in my office to discuss how to respond to a real, flesh and … Continue reading I’ve Been Invited to a Same-Sex Wedding. What Do I Do?
Marc Sims 