It’s been almost two years since we had a series of academic discussions. You can see all of those titles by clicking here. What do I mean by academic discussion? We can present evidence, share our logic and reasoning, but the position we take can be neither proven nor disproven. Such an exercise can hone our […]
We started the Academic Discussion series last Friday, and since then have examined issues like the age of the earth and the rapture. Up until now I have played the devil’s advocate so to speak and approached the arguments from both sides. This difference with this topic, predestination as defined by 5 point Calvinism, is […]
Let’s begin with a note on prophesy. There’s an old saying that hind sight is always 20/20. As we happen to be entering the season of Advent, this is the time of year we look back at the Old Testament prophesies of Messiah. As we are reminded each year that God’s prophesies were fulfilled in […]
We started our academic discussion series by defining terms. One of my favorite sayings is “Don’t make the Bible say something it doesn’t say.” I enjoy a hearty discussion and even a little bit of friendly debate as much as the next guy, but we must be careful to build up not tear down other […]
An academic discussion is a theoretical consideration of an issue. Perhaps it’s a debate of values. In the end, the discussion is academic if it takes place in rhetoric and there can be no practical application. There are debates going on among Christians that I consider to be purely academic. There are many undeniable truths […]
There are some discussions/debates that are purely academic in nature, meaning that they have no real bearing on anything practical. Is Superman strong enough to beat up the Incredible Hulk? It doesn’t matter who wins the debate, there is no practical application for the results.
It’s gettin’ to be that time. Let me clarify my position on fall. I’m not just an old grouch that complains about everything and I do not hate fall. There are things I like about fall when it actually gets here but if you start talking about hoodies and pumpkin spice in the middle of […]
Epiphany celebrates the wise men or Magi finding Jesus. They arrived sometime after his birth in Bethlehem, possibly a year or two later though this is a subject of much debate. Western Christians officially recognize Jan. 6th as the traditional date of Epiphany but it is increasingly common to celebrate on the first Sunday after […]
It was somewhat expected by those in the know that J.D. Greear would be elected to serve as SBC President at the annual meeting in Dallas this week. I was still somewhat surprised by the 68% of ballots he received from messengers. While many were pleased with the announcement the reactions ranged from “Thank God” […]
I don’t know how many tributes have been written, published, posted or tweeted this week about Billy Graham. I am not writing because I think there needs to be another one; sometimes the writing process is how we work through things. But in the process of thinking about it, maybe I can share with you […]