John Calvin (1509-1564) was a serious player in the “reformation” – the break of what is now known as the Protestant Church from the Roman Church. He had very strong opinions on the way that the Sovereignty of God trumps any freedom that mankind might have… which might be none. Often today one misnomer (my…Continue reading Calvinism and my views – Part I
Is Barack Obama a Christian? Much has been made in the last few days as to whether Barack Obama is a Christian. As seems to almost always be the case, the media assumes (maybe rightly) that we have way too short an attention span to look at questions like these with any depth or intelligence.…Continue reading Is our President a Christian?
My 15 year old son, Mark, is very involved in the debate world and is now adding speech competition to it. This is the speech he has started delivering this month; I think it has some great wisdom for Christians wrestling with the questions of how to interact with other believers, especially with whom they…Continue reading Minimizing unnecessary Conflict in the creation debate
I sometimes need to teach through the concept of middle knowledge, so I thought I should have a page with just this information. For a more in-depth conversation, check out the articles at “Calvinism predestination middle-knowledge and does God know the future…whew” Middle Knowledge God decides to create. At this point, He has limitless options…Continue reading Middle Knowledge
“The duty of planning tomorrow’s work is today’s duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present.” CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters This next little series is going to be very different from things I have published in the past… and I am honestly concerned that…Continue reading Prepping or Preparing for the grid down
I was recently was interviewed by a Master’s Student about my opinions on mid-life crises. I do not claim to be an expert, but I think the mid-life crisis is an identity issue. Anyway, here are my thoughts – Do most people experience a mid-life crisis? And does it affect men more than women? Or…Continue reading Interview about midlife Crises
Manhood Rite A few years ago, my brother-in –law was interested in doing a manhood ceremony, rites of passage, challenge kind of thing. He asked me to create it for him. I wanted to create a plan and yet still create an individualized experience for him. Here is what I did, and this is now…Continue reading Manhood Rite
These are just some quick thoughts about the 10 Commandments The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments are rules created by God and directly transferred by Him for the purpose of guiding His people, a society, to survive and thrive as most other societies, even larger and more powerful ones, faded into the History books. …Continue reading Thoughts on the 10 Commandments
I have given this a lot of thought for years and especially this last year. One of the daughters in my life has given me the opportunity to think more deeply about these issues than I think I ever would have otherwise. So, at least I know where I stand right now. I apologize that…Continue reading On being a dad
Preaching at FBC South this Sunday (the 16th) at 9am about the Father passages in John 14-16. Probably March 23rd or 30th South and DT too… Most Wednesday nights at FBC South at 6:30 (dinner at 5:45) Q&A. On the Wednesdays of Feb 26th and March 5th, I will be teaching about Sex. I think…Continue reading Upcoming Teaching Opportunities
These are interesting Christmas details from the biblical account. As far as the historical and pragmatic aspects to the Christmas celebration, take a look at this article… or maybe this one on the history of many of our Holidays, or even this one on Santa… This one is really about some of the precious and…Continue reading Some Fun Biblical Christmas Details I Thought You Might Find Interesting
Iron Men Conference Who: All men ages 17 and older Where: Grace Community OJ Campus When: October 19, 2013 Registration: 8am-9am Conference: 9am-5pm Why: To Equip men to be Godly husbands, fathers, and leaders in their communities and work places. Key Note Speaker: Blake Chilton – Pastoral Resident The Village Church Flower…Continue reading Last Minute Men's Event News!
You can download my talks on rest (including the talk about bringing rest and grace into your sex life) from week 11. They are unedited – I will put out an edited version in the future… but for now, enjoy!
Part 2 Go check out Part I, if you haven’t yet. We are answering the question, “how much time should spouses spend with each other?” With friends who are very similar to us, we can feel like we’ve spent a long time together even when we haven’t. Our temperaments, perspectives, opinions, etc., are so similar…Continue reading How Much Time Should Husbands and Wives Spend Together, Part II
Gun Control and Moral thinking I typically don’t write a lot of politically charged articles on my website unless they are moral or biblical issues. For me, I prefer here to talk about moral, psychological, biblical and theological issues… stuff like that. I am certainly a political person and an opinionated one… but of all…Continue reading Practical vs. Moral Arguments and gun control
I am teaching a basic parenting conference “Parenting in Freedom” at FBC Tyler’s South Campus Tuesday night, Sept 18th from 7-9:30 pm. Cost: $10 per person, $15 per couple. Come on! Learn about how grace and freedom can ease the stress and conflict of parenting! Q&A time included.
Notice that God tells David what would happen if he stayed, but he didn’t stay! God described a future that didn’t happen. So, God looks down through all the possible futures of all of the possible worlds and creations He could create within whatever bounds He had chosen for Himself. I imagine that in some…Continue reading Calvinism, predestination, middle knowledge and does God know the future – whew! – Part 2
In fact, if we examine the lists of what a parent is/does, it seems clear that the main role of a parent is to be an example of God’s love and devotion to us. Parents are essentially shepherds, disciple-ers, and ministers in the order of Christ: Sacrificial, intentional, and all the rest. From this perspective,…Continue reading Spiritual Parenting – Part II
I am sure there are some arguments in defense of not mixing the colors, but they are all ridiculous when you are talking about a “toy” that will have to be replaced in any case soon, and that is outrageously cheap! He couldn’t think of a good reason, so he let them mix the colors.…Continue reading Perfectionism – Part 2
Every Wed night at 6:30 at FBC South Campus. From now through Feb 29th – Making church a place where people feel they belong. Starting March 21st – Men Only – name: MIGHTY. Feb 3-5th Pine Cove “Romance Me” Weekend… There is still room (maybe bc it is Superbowl weekend)… www.pinecove.com Feb 6th – Grace…Continue reading Upcoming Speaking Events