Friendly Fire

Canada’s into a federal election year.  This means that we Canadians will be subjected to a more-than-tolerable amount of political character assassinations and governmental villainizing from every direction.  What makes it so time consuming to get to the truth of any candidate’s actual and fuller views on a given issue, however, is each party’s shameless tactic of mis-representing their opponent’s positions to make themselves look like White Knights by comparison.  Shady, frustrating, but unfortunately not shocking.

Controversial History

Last post was a brief look at the day-to-day life-size value of becoming familiar with the various theological controversies that have arisen throughout the church’s 2,000 year history.  In looking into any given controversy, it’s valuable to see not just where the positions or arguments are now, but where they started.

Experiencing Truth

My enjoyment of “theological non-fiction” has been growing steadily for the past several years.  I love reading the truths that minds much bigger and wiser than my own have been able to extract from the Scriptures.  God’s Word just seems to get deeper and deeper all the time; new-to-me insights into verses that I’ve read many times before never cease to make my heart rate climb.

Tricked Out of Our Treat

I’ve noticed in the last few years that each time we get close to October 31st there’s a firestorm on the internet among Christians regarding the right or wrong of participating in that day’s popular activities.  I feel more strongly about the whole thing than I used to so I’m going to throw in my two cents.

Gov't

“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well.” - I Peter 2:13-14
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” - Acts 5:29

Sending in the Troops

I really enjoy observing different peoples’ reactions when I tell them my boys are homeschooled.  Maybe it’s just the people I’ve come across, or maybe it’s our society’s dread of offending others, but I can’t recall a single negative reaction.  The majority of people I’ve mentioned our homeschooling to have been unbelievers, and they’ve still had nothing but encouragement and good things to say about the practice.

Abdication and Usurpation

Although most of us Christians would (hopefully) be quick to affirm that the Bible is indeed the sole rule of our faith and practice, there seems to be a frustrating natural tendency to mold what we read in the Bible to fit our own pre-conceived ideas of what’s “normal” or “reasonable.”

Basic Training

The spiritual war on earth is going to last until the King Himself returns and personally vanquishes the enemy.  We can hope that day will be in the not-too-distant future, but it’s entirely possible that we’ve still got a looooong way to go.  Whichever is the case, just as wise soldiers in any kind of war have always done, we must prepare for the long haul even while we hope for victory relatively soon.

Eternity, Part V - Eternal Life

Lest you should become weary of my tendency to dwell on the unpleasant realities of sin, judgement, and eternal death (realities though they are), we’ll wrap up this look at eternity with a summary of the wonderful truths of God’s forgiveness and the life that awaits the forgiven!

Eternity, Part IV - The Eternal Savior

We've looked at the fall of our first parents and the resulting devastation.  We've looked at some of the promises that God made in the Old Testament era of a coming Savior.  Now let’s look at how the Lord worked His plan out perfectly in His time, in His way, through His Son.