I never tire of trying to persuade people that the University of Kentucky has the greatest basketball tradition in the history of collegiate basketball. Whenever the subject comes up, I repeat, without hesitation, the necessary arguments to make my case. Are you persuaded? Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at making all those arguments…
In a certain sense, Christianity is amazingly simple. The story of the Christian faith is rooted in the beginning of the world. God created men and women to know him and enjoy him forever. But because Adam and Eve rebelled against their Creator, sin has passed down to every human being (cf. Rom 5:12; Ps…
Last year at the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Denver, Reformed theologian J. V. Fesko offered a historical-theological critique of John Piper’s book, What is Saving Faith? (You can watch the debate here or read it here. Denny Burk offers a short summary here). Fesko argues that Piper fails to understand how the Reformed tradition…
One of the books I am currently (re)-reading is Confessions, by Augustine. Early in the book, the church father pointed me Godward with this paragraph: What, then, is my God? What, I ask, except the Lord God? For who is God save our God? O highest and best, most all-powerful, most merciful and most just,…
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy…
In his book, God is the Gospel, John Piper opened my eyes to the ultimate aim of the gospel. That is, the good news brings me to God, my “exceeding joy” (Ps 43:5). “Today—as in every generation—it is stunning to watch the shift away from God as the all-satisfying gift of God’s love. It is…
I want to interact with those around me, respond to sin (either mine or others), and generally live in such a way that I put the good news of Jesus on display. Of course, I’ll never do this perfectly but I should strive to make everything I can in my personal life point to the…
There are times when small parts of the Bible really stick out to me. I often feel the urge to just marinate on part of a chapter or part of a verse. That’s what happened to me the other day when I read half of Galatians 2:12. I simply wanted to sit with the words. …
One of the things the church continually needs is focus. This year has, it seems, hampered our focus in various ways. We are either focused on the wrong things or simply lack focus on anything. However, one thing is certain. We need to focus more and more on Jesus in the present evil age.…
Historically, in the Western Christian tradition, the good news of the saving message of Jesus Christ has been linked closely to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.[1] In short, according to the Reformed tradition, upon the exercise of faith, a person is united to Christ by the powerful working of the Spirit. Having been…
Theology Along the Way 