From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master total and absolute. (Walt Whitman, “Song of the Open Road”) Whitman’s vision of ultimate freedom, contemptuous of history, boundaries and authority, is the reigning spirit of Western culture. It has even impacted religion and spirituality. Spirituality […]
Perfect harmony among God’s people is not to be expected before we get to heaven. There, where all infirmity and all ignorance is over and gone forever, the Lord’s people will “see eye-to-eye” on everything. There all mysteries will be explained to all the saints, and all the controverted points of doctrine and duty will […]
Mrs. Groenendyk, in her first article (June, 2000), discussed factors in our culture that are enticements to God’s people which draw them away from their covenantal relationship to God. In this article she adds to that discussion and calls readers to a biblical response to today’s culture. Psychology and Psychotherapy Two fields of study which […]
Modern electronics have made fishing more exciting and productive than ever. For a few hundred dollars or less, fishers can equip themselves with electronic devices that show on a screen the depth and temperature of the water, the shape of the bottom, the number of fish in the area and at what depth the fish […]
The Supreme Court challenge to the Boy Scouts of America and its policy against membership for known homosexuals and the new “civil union” law in Vermont are the latest in a string of advances by gay-rights advocates. They have managed to intimidate into silence many who don’t agree with them. The surest way to expose […]
A sad fact is that many children grow up with a parent who is never satisfied. My own father was a hard-charging, young army officer when my brother was born. Dad was tough and demanding. When I made my appearance into this world eight years later, our soldier/father had mellowed, which was great news for […]
In my previous articles on the doctrine of justification, I dealt with two issues: first, the nature of justification, what it is; and second, the ground or basis of our justification. Justification is God’s declaration or pronouncement that we are righteous and acceptable to Him. When God declares us righteous and no longer under condemnation, […]
Introduction If possible, I wish to raise an alarm without being an alarmist. The Reformed theologian, J. H. Alsted (1588–1638) said that the doctrine of justification is the article of faith by which the church stands or falls. Of course he was only summarizing what all Protestants learned from Luther. It has become clear since […]
LONDON, England (EP) — A 150-page report to be published this month from the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom (EAUK) says that Christians need to emphasize the doctrine of Hell. The Rev. Joel Edwards, general director of EAUK, said, “The increasing pluralism of western culture has made Hell more of a stumbling block than […]