Editor's Note: I originally posted this at my own blog quite a while ago and had thought about publishing it here at that time but didn't. While I am waiting for some of our contributors to finish up some posts and get them ready to go, I figured I would offer this as fodder for discussion. If I have misrepresented any of the core of the five points of TULIP, feel free to offer some constructive correction. It was not my intention to flesh them out fully, but neither did I desire to misrepresent them. I have had a flash of inspiration. Perhaps someone, somewhere has already done this … [Read more...] about TULIPY: The Acronym for Hyper-Calvinism
It Could Be Worse
I am a lot like Dave in some ways. We both serve in states that are out of the main core of the SBC. We both serve in an office that has a title with no real power beyond our ministry as pastors (admittedly his is a much bigger office with no real power than mine). We both dislike the culture of argumentative combativeness that comes with the territory seemingly of the blogosphere. But I remind myself that it could always be worse. Yesterday, I ran across an article that reminded me just how true this statement is. At least we find ourselves arguing over issues that are debatable in … [Read more...] about It Could Be Worse
Marketing, Self-Promotion, and the Christian
Last week I was on a professional website where a marketer highlighted one company's clever means of drawing readers to click on the articles. The company entices readers by posting a link titled to make visitors think one thing, but when they click and read the article the wordplay becomes clear. Readers might see a news (not humor) article titled, "Man Eats Entire Dictionary!" (I'm making this one up.) After they click the link they discover the story is that a man ate a bowl of alphabet soup. He ate every letter used to spell every word in a dictionary, but he didn't really "eat" a … [Read more...] about Marketing, Self-Promotion, and the Christian
How Does Your Church Train Up Men?
I must admit some personal irony to the subject at hand (no pun to be intended), I did quite the boyish thing seven weeks ago, by turning one of our young adults into a tackling dummy during a church volleyball game. Landed awkwardly on my wrist and broke a bone. Funny thing is it didn’t hurt that bad and looked fine, so I went 2 weeks without knowing it was broke. Then spent 4 weeks in a cast, and now find myself in the middle of at least a 2-week stint in a splint… makes typing at a computer and therefore blogging a bit difficult. So I’m going to keep this short—mainly in the form of … [Read more...] about How Does Your Church Train Up Men?
You Don’t Need Permission to Change
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. -- Matthew 7:7-8 It was in a summer in the '60s in the steamy hot apartment-laden suburb of Houston that I first became aware that change was actually sometimes in you and of you, and not just something others did to you. Up to that point, change had been dependent upon a parent's whim or job, or the ebb and flow of family income. We might live in a house with a nice big yard and a barking … [Read more...] about You Don’t Need Permission to Change
Is This Helpful or Needlessly Pessimistic?
As an aging man, and one who had been a Christian for over 30 years, John Newton had this to say about his experience: At my first setting out, indeed, I thought to be better, and to feel myself better from year to year; I expected by degrees to attain everything which I then comprised in my idea of a godly Christian. I thought my grain of grace, by much diligence and careful improvement, would, in time, amount to a pound; that pound, in a farther space of time, to a talent; and then I hoped to increase from one talent to many; so that, supposing the Lord should spare me a number of years, I … [Read more...] about Is This Helpful or Needlessly Pessimistic?
Changing Hearts and Changing Votes
A few simple propositions… Our task, as Christians, is working together with God to change people’s hearts, not change their votes. We don’t change people’s votes in order to change their hearts. But neither do we change people’s hearts IN ORDER to change their votes. We change people’s hearts in order to change their hearts, and to bring God glory. Once someone’s heart is changed, it may well affect the way they vote. But that is between them and God. A disproportionate emphasis on changing people’s votes may become a stumbling block that gets in the … [Read more...] about Changing Hearts and Changing Votes
GFCI Outlets and Cloth Towels
I spent part of Friday morning at the Stuttgart, Arkansas, Public Library. My kids were at "Art Camp" in Stuttgart and we were getting so much of the desperately needed rain that the one road out of Almyra to the north was about to flood under. So, I needed a place to read in town and not buy excessive numbers of donuts. The library fit the bill. While I was there, I noticed a pair of items in the restroom that I had not put together before. On previous trips, I have explained to my son what the "towel roller" on the wall is. Now, those of you who are my age or older likely remember these … [Read more...] about GFCI Outlets and Cloth Towels
Ministry: Calling or Career?
Editor's Note: This post was referenced in the one I published yesterday and as one of the commenters suggested, it would be nice to have a separate place to discuss this issue. The original post was published at my blog a couple of years ago, but the economy hasn't gotten better in the meantime so I would imagine this is still happening. How should we respond to those who treat ministry as a career path more than a calling? I know where I stand on this issue, but I would like to throw some thoughts out there for everyone else. The impetus for this post comes from a story on FoxNews … [Read more...] about Ministry: Calling or Career?
Romans 9, Calvinism, Traditionalism (by David R. Brumbelow)
In Romans 9 God says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Romans 9 is one of the Calvinists’ favorite chapters. They refer to it often and believe it refers to personal salvation. They use it against Traditionalists or non-Calvinists. Some say Traditionalists have no answer to this obviously Calvinistic Scripture, or that they don‘t believe it. One joked a couple of years ago about how a Traditionalist tore Romans 9 out of his Bible. We have even been accused of not believing in inerrancy because we do not agree with their interpretation of this passage. The answer to Romans 9, … [Read more...] about Romans 9, Calvinism, Traditionalism (by David R. Brumbelow)