When Progression Is Not a Good Thing
The word “progression” is usually seen as a good thing. The definition of the word is: the process of developing or moving gradually towards a more advanced state. Everyone likes progress. In the Gospel of John, we see some good examples of progression. In two conversations people experience a progression in their understanding of who […]
The Feel-Good Gospel
The following is adapted from one section of Chapter 1 of my book A Gospel of Doubt, a response to Dr. John MacArthur’s book The Gospel According to Jesus. The first chapter of the third edition of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus is entitled, “Follow Me.” It is a new chapter which was […]
Perseverance in Marathons and in the Ultimate Race
I started training in November. I had hoped to compete in the Cowtown Marathon in Ft. Worth, which I’ve finished three times. But then Sharon was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst that turned out to be cancer. The chemo treatments were such that February 24 was not a good time for us. So, I […]
The Divisions of Systematic Theology
When we voted on a theme for the last national conference, the choices came down to “Ephesians: Verse-by-Verse” and “Systematic Theology.” Ephesians won by a nose. I’ve always been a systematic theology guy. I have well over fifty such theologies in my office and more at home. I like thinking about the big picture and […]
Is Anyone Unreachable?
We all have a ministry from God. In fact, you’re in full-time ministry right now. So…how are you doing? What are you doing? Who are you reaching? One of the things I try to emphasize at church is that everyone should be self-consciously serving God in their lives. Not everyone has a visible ministry on […]
The Eternal Dwelling Place for Believers Is Not Heaven—Humans Were Made to Live on Earth with Physical Bodies
The following is one section from Chapter 5 (“Heaven”) of my book The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible. When I was on Staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, we used to sing a song at our weekly on-campus meetings. It was a chorus called, “Heaven Is a Wonderful Place.” We’d sing about how […]
Four Alternative Models for Starting a Free Grace Church
Everyone recognizes the need for more Free Grace churches. But how do you start them? It’s something I’ve been wrestling with. Here are four church models: House Church: This would be the most familiar way to start a church from scratch. You start with a Bible study in a home and grow from there. Maybe […]
The Ability to Believe
Question Shawn, in recently countering Calvinism, you mentioned man has the “ability to believe or not believe”. I agree with this, however it conflicts with GES’ normal position that “believing is passive”. Bob often says “one either believes or he does not” and this not by decision of his will. If man does not “decide […]
Talk Faith (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
My daughter Daphne will be starting 1st grade in the Fall. We’ve been homeschooling her for Kindergarten and sending her twice a week to a co-op for classes with other homeschoolers. I knew she was making good progress in math. She’s learning to draw well. And she’s supposed to be learning Spanish at the co-op […]
The Transformed Life (Romans 12:1-21)
Do you know someone who is wasting their life? Maybe this person is an alcoholic. Maybe he or she is hooked on opioids. Or maybe the problem is simply that the person does not work, does not help others, and is not engaged in life. If that someone is your child, a friend, a loved […]