Renew Your Mind

There are many places in the Bible where God presents a stark contrast between two options, then urges the reader to make his choice. He gave his law to ancient Israel, then said, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted wide and narrow gates and pleaded, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads …

Rule #2: Guard Against Worldliness (8 Rules for Growing in Godliness)

There are certain words and ideas that, over time, fall out of favor. Once they have fallen out of favor, it is not long before they fall out of common parlance. Sometimes, when words are archaic or their ideas unbiblical, this is the church’s gain. At other times, though, this is the church’s loss, for words may be useful and their ideas key to the Christian life and faith. At such times we do well to reclaim them, to introduce …

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Distrust, Suspicion, or Love?

I grew up in a Christian culture in which very little evangelism took place. How little? Well, the first adult I ever witnessed getting baptized was my wife (she was my girlfriend at the time) and that was when we were eighteen or nineteen. It was the first time our church had ever baptized an adult. And what’s more, it was the first time most of the people who attended that church had ever seen an adult get baptized. While …

A La Carte (11/20)

Tuesday November 20, 2007 Phillip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass” Several people have expressed concern to me about the upcoming film “The Golden Compass.” A couple of years ago IV Press published a book that may be of interest: “Dark Matter: Shedding Light on Philip Pullman’s Trilogy, His Dark Materials.” Reformed Baptist Academic Press Reformed Baptist Academic Press has just launched a new web site and is introducing two new books. How to Mark a Book “Thoughts on the Way” has …

Biblical Perspectives on Sex and Autoeroticism

I am not aware of a large number of children that read this site, but despite that I’d like to begin this article with a quick warning. What I am writing about in this short series deals with a subject that is best-suited for adults. So if you are still young, I’d prefer you had your mom or dad read it first and decide if this is something they would like you to read. Fair enough? And by now the …

A Little Leaven…

I began my postsecondary education by concentrating on the study of English and history at McMaster University. After only a few months, I found myself increasingly frustrated with the English courses. It seemed to me that the courses were based primarily on what, in theology, we would refer to eisogesis. We would study an assigned story or a poem and read into it whatever we meaning we felt existed within. It seemed that the more wild our speculations, the more …