Archive for June 2018
Three Ways to Safeguard Regenerate Church Membership
One of the crucial marks of what it means to be Baptist is that we believe the local church, so far as we are able to discern, is made up of members who have been born again.[1] Historically, Baptists have believed in regenerate church membership. Regenerate church membership is a precious and biblical belief worthy…
Read MoreWhen Idolatry Inverts Our Identity
The new issue of Credo Magazine has been released: Idolatry. The following is an excerpt from Stuart Bell’s book review of Identity and Idolatry: The Image of God and Its Inversion authored by Richard Lints. Dr. Stuart Bell is a North American Mission Board church planter in downtown Seattle, where he has served since October 2016. He and his…
Read MoreWhy Pastors Should Engage Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics
I will answer the implied question in the title of this article with a series of propositions, working backward from what we mean by “pastoral” through the importance of dogmatic theology for pastoral care to Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics specifically. Proposition 1: Pastoral care at its core involves being attentive to people’s concrete lived experience.…
Read MoreIdolatry and the End Times
Last week the new issue of Credo Magazine was released: Idolatry. The following is an excerpt from Michael Naylor’s article. Dr. Michael Naylor is Associate Professor of New Testament at Columbia International University and the author of the forthcoming book, Complexity and Creativity: John’s Presentation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation. One of the initial…
Read MoreNew Credo Video: What is the covenant of redemption?
What is the covenant of redemption? How does this covenant differ from other covenants in scripture? What does the Trinity have to do with the covenant of redemption? Why is this covenant so essential to our salvation? Executive editor of Credo Magazine, Matthew Barrett, answers these questions and more in this new video interview. Watch other…
Read MoreWhat is the covenant of redemption?
What is the covenant of redemption?
Read MoreThe Sophisticated Idolater
In the new issue of Credo Magazine, Bob Kellemen diagnoses the idolatrous heart through examining the heart’s four fallen chambers. Bob Kellemen is the Pastor of Counseling and Equipping at Bethel Church, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Academic Dean at Faith Bible Seminary in Lafayette, Indiana, and Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries. The following is…
Read MoreDivine Aseity and Christian Apologetics
If God is omniperfect—the greatest imaginable being—then he will exist a se, i.e., with absolute self-sufficiency. Nothing other than God will explain his existence and nature, and he will have no needs. Therefore, God will be all-powerful, all-knowing, and maximally good, since any shortfall in these attributes would compromise his aseity. This last conclusion follows…
Read MoreHave You Become What You Worship? An Interview with G.K. Beale
In the new issue of Credo Magazine, Matthew Barrett interviewed G.K. Beale about the nature of idolatry and why it is so ironic and destructive. Greg Beale (PhD, Cambridge) holds the J. Gresham Machen Chair of New Testament and is professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of many books,…
Read MoreIdolatry and the Imago Dei: A Flat Contradiction
Credo Magazine’s newest issue has arrived: Idolatry. The following is an excerpt from John Kilner’s article. Dr. John F. Kilner holds the Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is the author of the award-winning book Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God. Images point to something else, of…
Read MoreNew issue is here: Idolatry
The new issue of Credo Magazine is here: Idolatry. The great church father Augustine once wrote that one of the most devastating effects of sin is seen in the way we become curved in on ourselves. God is eliminated from our world as we turn inward to worship the creature rather than the Creator. As John Calvin said, man…
Read MoreSpiritual Gifts and the Lordship of Christ
Spiritual gifts provide a fascinating topic of discussion.[1] Christians from different theological traditions have different opinions about the gifts. It is important to study what the Scriptures say, and it is important to understand the spiritual gifts, but we can have unity with brothers and sisters even if we are not on the same page…
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