On Sunday morning, I delivered the second message in my series on John’s Gospel. It’s on John 1:6-13 and titled “The True Light.” You can listen below or download on Spotify or iTunes. [EXCERPT] John 1:13, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” This verse continues the thought of verse 12. All of those “children of God” from verse 12 have been “born” in verse 13. But before telling you how they were born, he tells you how they weren’t born. First, they weren’t born of “bloods” (lit. plural). Many interpreters understand “bloods” to refer…
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Teachers Forced to Conceal Students’ Gender Transition from Parents
Last Fall, I counseled briefly with a young school teacher in California. He had just finished his teacher in-service training for the new school year. Administrators instructed all teachers that—according to state law—all teachers must affirm the gender transitions of their students. That means using their preferred pronouns and transgender names and allowing them to use the bathroom of their choice. Even worse, the state also requires teachers to conceal a child’s gender transition from his parents. If a teacher ever talks to a parent, he must deceive the parents by using the child’s birthname and pronouns to conceal from the parents what their child is doing at school. Administrators…
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So calling God “Mother” is no big deal after all?
This week has seen the appearance of two new reviews of Amy Peeler’s controversial book Women and the Gender of God. Both reviews are written by theology professors from Moody Bible Institute—the first by Marcus Johnson in Themelios and the second by John Clark in Touchstone. I reviewed Peeler’s book myself last January, so I read both of these new reviews with a keen interest to see if they saw what I did—that Peeler’s book contains some significant Trinitarian and Christological problems. It turns out that both of them did. That is why I was surprised to see a bit of a meltdown online concerning Johnson’s review in Themelios. No…
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Derek Webb’s Ode to Deconstruction
I recently saw that Derek Webb has released a new album titled “The Jesus Hypothesis.” Webb famously walked away from the Christian faith several years ago. Nevertheless, he claims on his website that “The Jesus Hypothesis” is his first “Christian & Gospel” album in ten years. You don’t have to listen very far into the playlist to discover that it is not “Christian & Gospel” at all. Yes, the subject matter is Christianity and the gospel, but it’s all about how Webb has rejected both. In his song “God in Drag,” Webb hijacks Jesus’ language from the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said… but I…
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Resurrection Hymn
O Jesus, Savior of my life, My hope, my joy, my sacrifice, I’ve searched and found no other one Who loves me more than you have done. So I denounce my lingering sin Whose power You have broke within My ever weak and faithless frame. Its vigor’s crushed in Jesus name. For your death did at once proclaim, The Godhead’s glory and my shame. And you did seize my cup of guilt And drank all that the chalice spilled. No condemnation now I dread Because you went for me instead To bear the curse and wrath and rage, To pay the debt I would have paid. Yet your work finished…
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The Innermost Meaning of the Cross
“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” -Isaiah 53:10 “God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness.” -Romans 3:25 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us– for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” -Galatians 3:13 “It is those who cannot come to terms with any concept of the wrath of God…
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An Open Letter Supporting Women as Pastors
Earlier today, I saw that Scot McKnight posted an invitation to sign a statement affirming women as pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The group hosting the letter is called Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM). Although I’m not aware of this group having any meaningful ties to the SBC any longer, this group has a history that was forged during the crucible of the SBC’s conservative resurgence. One early member of the group was Molly Marshall, former professor at Southern Seminary a well-known advocate for female pastors, and an advocate for “theological hospitality” toward those who affirm homosexuality. BWIM tweeted about the letter before its release and gave a…
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A Stimulating Address on the Trinity and EFS
At the recent Shepherd’s Conference , Pastor Mike Riccardi delivered an excellent address about the Trinity and EFS. It’s an accessible primer on the issue and gets to the theological heart of the debate. You can listen to the audio below or read his manuscript here. Highly recommended. Riccardi’s remarkis are all good and helpful. Really clarifying. My one bit of feedback concerns the pactum salutis. Does Riccardi’s presentation leave room for there to be a pre-temporal eternal covenant between the Father and Son? There is a lot at stake in this question because The Baptist Confession of 1689 is even more explicit about the covenant of redemption than Westminister.…
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Beware of Those Who Make a Virtue of Doubt
Christianity Today has published an article about doubt that, if true, would make Jesus into a sinner. The article is a couple years old, but it just came to my attention a few days ago [but see update #2 below]. In the article, two biblical scholars, A. J. Swoboda and Nijay K. Gupta, argue that “Jesus Was the God-Man, Not the God-Superman.” As such, they argue, Jesus sometimes experienced doubt. By becoming the God-Man, Jesus took on our human nature, “warts and all.” The authors argue that “part of what he received from us in his humanness was our ability to doubt—and doubt he did.” They contend, “Doubt is a…
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Josh Butler Tells His Side of the Story
Preston Sprinkle hosted a fascinating panel discussion with Pastor Josh Butler, author of forthcoming book titled Beautiful Union: How God’s Vision for Sex Points Us to the Good, Unlocks the True, and (Sort of) Explains Everything. Readers may remember that TGC posted an excerpt of the book on their website in early March. Controversy erupted almost immediately, and TGC ended up taking down the excerpt and apologizing for it. You can read my comments on the whole brouhaha here. Unfortunately, in the immediate aftermath of the controversy, Butler wasn’t given an opportunity (or perhaps didn’t take advantage of an opportunity?) to have a reasonable conversation about his views and his…
