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Troubler of Israel

Theology

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July 2021

July 07, 2021

God’s “Yes” and Long Flights

Some of my most revealing discussions happen on airplanes, during long flights. They usually begin...

June 2021

June 10, 2021

Why Music Opens Hearts and Minds

The late Rich Mullins wrote a lot of songs that changed people’s lives and shaped...

June 10, 2021

Why Was the Forbidden Fruit Forbidden?

It’s hard to pick your favorite books by a guy like C. S. Lewis. He’s...

March 2021

March 29, 2021

What If Suffering Is God’s Secret Weapon?

Recently, I’ve had occasion to ponder suffering in a deeper way than ever before. I...

February 2020

February 04, 2020

Okay, Doomer

Two of my best friends and I have an informal liturgy: whenever we go camping,...

October 2019

October 25, 2019

In Defense of the Spooky

Divested of its apocryphal Pagan origins, Halloween isn’t the beast our fundamentalist Sunday school teachers...

July 2019

July 02, 2019

Why Are Presbyterians Fighting Over Celibate, ‘Gay Christians’?

See the end of this article for a response I received from Greg Johnson (Lead...

April 2019

April 16, 2019

Morality Doesn’t Need a Modifier

Two related habits of thought will render a Christian useless to his neighbors more quickly...

April 01, 2019

Why the God-Man Upstages the Coral

At John Pennekamp State Park in Florida, just east of Key Largo, you’ll find a...

February 2019

February 26, 2019

Dear Pastors: Stop Apologizing for the Sacraments

We’ve all been to this church service, and we all know what I’m talking about:...

January 2019

January 07, 2019

Church Membership Isn’t Optional

I pick on millennials frequently, and that’s okay, because I happen to be one. But...

December 2018

December 14, 2018

Whose Face Did Mary Kiss? (A Reply to Douglas Wilson)

I think pastor Doug Wilson and I would agree that the Christmas song wars are...

November 2018

November 08, 2018

Talk About God, Even If You’re No Good at It

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article for the Federalist claiming that most American Christians...

October 2018

October 29, 2018

Jordan Peterson, Puddleglum, and What’s Too Good Not to Be True

This piece was originally published at BreakPoint.org.  Would you believe in Christianity even if you...

October 25, 2018

Inerrancy Gives the Bible the Power To Tell Us Things We Don’t Like

Forty is a biblically significant number. It’s usually the duration of time—in days or years—of...

September 2018

September 24, 2018

If You Don’t Want Kids, Don’t Have Sex (or Get Married)

(This piece was originally published at BreakPoint.)A British National Health Service commuter ad is making...

September 14, 2018

Why I Can’t Sign the Social Justice Statement: Biblicism, Individualism, and Half a Great Commission

There is much to say about the recent Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel,...

August 2018

August 15, 2018

The Bible Doesn’t Say Jesus Walked Through Locked Doors

There's a Christian truism we all grew up with that goes like this: Jesus walked...

August 07, 2018

Why Is Harry Potter More Christian Than His Creator?

This piece was originally published on August 3 at Speculative Faith.  On Tuesday, July 31,...

April 2018

April 27, 2018

My Christian Sisters and the Pence Rule (Why Aimee Byrd Is Misreading Scripture)

Aimee Byrd from the Mortification of Spin podcast has written a new book challenging the...

April 02, 2018

Post-Pascha Reminder: Easter Is Not a Pagan Holiday

It's Eastertide (it's not just one day!) and if you know an evangelical Baby Boomer...

March 2018

March 26, 2018

Why Dying is Gain: A Review of ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’

We in the West must constantly seek out reminders of what real hardship looks like....

March 13, 2018

The Deep-Heavenly Symbolism of Sex

Christianity really is the answer key to the human experience. This is nowhere truer than...

January 2018

January 24, 2018

No, C. S. Lewis Didn’t Teach a Ransom Atonement

One of the less astute canards in Reformed circles is the idea that C. S....

January 02, 2018

On Outliving the Stars: A Reflection from My Grandpa’s Funeral

A question has haunted us since we began dying: At the end of a man’s...

December 2017

December 26, 2017

We Are All Serpent-Crushers

In Christ, we are all Serpent-crushers.

December 19, 2017

R. C. Sproul: The Man Who Taught Me to Fear God

I first remember encountering R. C. Sproul while a student at “The Truth Project.” The...

December 11, 2017

Yes, Fellow Protestants, Mary is the Mother of God (It’s Good Christology)

Theotokos–Greek for “birth-giver of God,” or more simply, “Mother of God.” It’s a term that...

November 2017

November 07, 2017

Should Christians Carry Guns in Church?

Is it okay for Christians to bring weapons into church for self-defense?

October 2017

October 04, 2017

‘Scripture Alone’ Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

Have evangelicals taken sola scriptura too far?

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