Why Must Salvation Be Apart from Works? (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Everyone knows Eph 2:8-9, that we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works. But do you know why that is? Paul explained why in Eph 2:1-3. The Ephesians had been in a bad way. Really bad. Hopeless, really. Here’s how Paul described them: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses […]
An Open Letter on Sex Offenders
Dear Shawn, I read with interest your article on “No More Scarlet Letters.” My question is why authors like you refuse to address, and why churches are slow to forgive, restore, and embrace sex offenders? [He gives examples of churches excluding sex offenders.] Dear Reader, Thank you for your letter. I think grace can, […]
Taken on Testimony
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how’s your pain?” Often, my kids will come and say they have a headache or a tummy ache, or their throat is sore, or they hurt their knee. I can’t feel their pain, but I can sympathize and guess what it feels like based on my own experiences. […]
More Than a Herd of Pigs (Mark 5:1-20)
We tack silly cartoons to our office wall. Here’s a recent one we enjoyed: Poor pig. The cartoon is referring to the episode in Mark 5:1-20 in which Jesus visited the land of the Gerasenes and met a man who was demon possessed. Long story short, Jesus cast out the demons who then entered a […]
Grace Is Approachable
I was listening to a podcast by Paul Zahl entitled “A Disease I Do Not Have the Courage to Name.” The title comes from a now out-of-print book entitled My Son Is a Splendid Driver, set during the Great Depression. In it, the protagonist’s mother is given a deadly STD by her husband, a traveling […]
How Does Satan Work?
I plan to complete a series of books outlining what I think are the Biblical alternatives to the five points of Calvinism (and Arminianism). Chosen to Serve: Why Election Is to Service, Not to Eternal Life, was my answer to Unconditional Election. I have two more manuscripts in the works—one on Limited Atonement (The Cross: […]
The Rich Man, Lazarus, and Samuel
One of the central texts in the debate over hell is Luke 16—the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Actually, whether or not this is a parable is part of the debate. People who deny eternal conscious torment deny that Jesus’ story depicts a real situation. For example, many annihilationists want to deny it […]
Where Did Abraham Go When He Died (Gen 25:8-9; Luke 16:22-23)?
I am about a third of the way into writing my book about hell, tentatively entitled, Final Punishment: A Biblical Case for Conscious Eternal Torment. I’m hoping to finish by the 2019 National Conference. There is so much interesting Biblical information about death and the afterlife in the Bible. The picture is far more complicated […]
Naming Grace
“So why did you start coming to this church?” the man asked. “When I moved to Denton, I started looking for a church, and I saw this one was ‘country-friendly,’” I explained. “I figured if I was going to be in North Texas, I should get that country experience. Of course, I asked the pastor […]
The Snow Beneath Your Feet
This winter break I kept my promise to Zane and Daphne and took them to Canada. I was only supposed to take Daphne, but I managed to save up enough for Zane, too. The trip went great. We stayed with my sister in her apartment. My family planned everything for me. I told them some […]