I have started reading Scott Adams’ new book Reframe your Brain and it is proving to be worth the time invested. The core idea is that all your core assumptions about reality have a huge impact on your thoughts, actions, and attitudes – and, so ultimately, the direction and outcome of your life.  Do you believe the universe is out to get you? Then your experience will likely affirm that notion time and again. What we are really talking about then is “mindset”. There are plenty of books out there about mindset, but Adams’ contribution is the assertion that your…

Lately I find myself wondering how often people imagine they are rejecting Christianity when in fact they are only rejecting pseudo-Christian beliefs, heresies, or the “traditions of men”.  I have seen videos on YouTube of atheists who have been exposed to Calvinism and it has hardened their hearts towards God. They will say, “I can’t believe in a God who would create billions of sentient creatures incapable of knowing Him, only to torture them forever in Hell.” And I want to scream, “You don’t have to believe in that god – that’s not the God of Scripture!” Speaking of hell,…

I have spent the last two or three years tracing the connections linking commonly held Christian doctrines back to the Scriptures. I have been surprised at how often those connections are little more than threads. Sometimes they are nothing but a “rope of sand”, to borrow a phrase from George Whitefield.   In taking a “show me in Scripture” attitude toward various doctrines, I have learned more in these past three years than in three years in seminary. (It’s cheaper, too!) I started with Calvinism. That was fairly easy to let go of as unscriptural because, although I was tempted by…

It’s not how he would have planned it, but … Looking on the bright side, the Apostle Paul begins the meat of his letter to the Philippians by outlining positive effects of his recent imprisonment.  Just because he has been sidelined from preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ freely as he might under ideal circumstances, doesn’t mean the gospel itself has stalled. In fact, his chains are serving the interests of the gospel in 3 powerful ways: In the end, as long as the gospel is spreading, Paul is happy.  1:12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that…

Like any sort of ideology, I suppose, Calvinism’s biggest problems are obvious from the outside but invisible from the inside.  One of its biggest problems is the clear disconnect in the character of God which results if Calvinism is true.  Calvinists claim a “high view” of God. They focus on his glory and power and sovereignty.  And his anger and wrath. His mind is made up about humanity (and has been from the beginning): everyone deserves eternal torment. (Except for a handful of pre-chosen individuals who will be given grace and love, irresistibly – in order to show what a…

Phil 1:9 – And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. I think Paul is praying for the Philippians to grow in their love of God. And the more we know God and gain insight into His character, the more we are going to love Him.  Gaining Knowledge of God can happen through Bible study, worship, preaching, prayer, and Sunday school. But it can also happen any time and any where.  I remember distinctly a beautiful moment I had at a gas station as I was filling up my…

Haitian hospitals and Haitian jails have this in common: Meal service and other basic necessities are not provided by the staff.  Thankfully, I never had reason to spend a single night in either one, but I have this on good authority. In a Haitian hospital, the hospital’s role is to provide a roof overhead, a bed, and a doctor. I knew of a man whose wife was having contractions and he had to leave the hospital to shop for sterile water, latex gloves, and other supplies to take back to her doctor.  If you needed to spend several days in…

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is different from many of his other letters in that the church in Philippi was not in the midst of any sort of serious controversy nor under threat from false teachers.  Things were pretty good and normal there. In fact, he wrote to thank them for supporting him financially and sending one of their own to help him while he has been in prison. Paul begins the letter with gratitude for the church there in Philippi and he lets the congregation know that he prays for them regularly. And then he tells them what he…

When you grow up in church, there are obvious things contained in the Bible that are too familiar to see.  I was listening to a podcast the other day and the host was quoting a passage from Ephesians 2: 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in…

At least one other of John Wesley’s philosophical issues with Calvinism’s understanding of predestination is worthy of consideration: the God of Calvinism – in determining to damn great numbers of men and women and children from before the foundation of the world – makes Satan redundant.  If Calvinistic predestination is true, Wesley explains, “one might say to our Adversary the Devil”: “Thou Fool, why dost thou roar about any longer? Thy lying in Wait for Souls is as needless and useless as our Preaching. Hearest thou not, that GOD hath taken thy Work out of thy Hands? And that he…