Theology / Doctrine

We planted a church from a youth group several years ago, and as a result, I pastored a congregation of college aged men and women for a number of years. During this time, one of our young women sent me an email telling me she was about to participate in …

Words matter. Ideas have consequences. In the years that I have been engaging Mormons about matters of faith, I’ve learned to define terms very carefully. Christians and Mormons use many of the same terms: “grace”, “heaven”, “Jesus”, “God”, “salvation” and many more. But when the definitions of these terms are …

Are all sins the same in the eyes of God? Is lying just as bad as murder? The answer is not as simple as it may seem. In one sense our moral failings are exactly the same: Our sins (regardless of severity) expose our imperfection and separate us from the …

I’m often asked where I “land” on the issue of God’s sovereignty and human freedom. How much free will do we actually have as humans? If God is all powerful and all knowing, if God knows the end from the beginning, if God has predestined us to come to faith, …

The word “orthodox” does not actually appear in the Bible, but its meaning is affirmed throughout the Scriptures. The Bible describes the existence of objective Biblical truth and prescribes the teaching and defense of this truth. We’re living in an age where it’s stylish for Christians to be involved in …

As Christians, our understanding and definition of the Holy Spirit separates us from other believers using similar terms. A proper understanding is important because it defines us as Christians and helps us understand how to respond to God’s Spirit. In this sense, the truth about the Holy Spirit has definitive …

The Holy Spirit is often misunderstood by Christians who may not have taken the time to properly investigate His nature. But as Christians, our understanding and definition of the Holy Spirit is critical as it separates us from other believers using similar terms but holding different beliefs. There are three …

Every theistic worldview eventually asks a series of important questions: “What are God’s plans for us, His created children? Does God have a plan to reunite us to Himself? Is there a way we could someday meet God and exist with Him?” All theistic systems describe the manner in which …

For over two thousand years, seekers and believers have examined the person of Jesus in an effort to understand who He was and what He said about Himself. All of us, whether we are believers or not, believe something about the man named Jesus. Did He really live? Was He …

After speaking at a church recently, I was approached by a woman who identified herself as a defense attorney and a Christian. She told me she struggled to understand how some of the suspects I’d arrested for cold-case murders had been able to live law-abiding, uneventful lives for thirty years …