Grace in Focus – September/October 2014
Proclaiming the Gospel: Is There Room for Diversity?
In 1978, John Paul Young was crooning: “Love is in the air…” Today, this seems to be the refrain in theological circles. Rather than focusing on distinctives, the emphasis is on loving reconciliation at any cost. Some Evangelicals are now pushing for unity with Roman Catholics. The concern of these leaders is laudable; they want
Remembering Dale Boring
Dale was born two days before the United States entered into World War II. He went to be with the Lord on June 7th of this year. He was 72. Dale and his wife Diane first came to the GES annual conference in 1997 with their daughter Nancy. They came almost every year after that
Jesus’ Servants Are Believers
Observation Here is an observation I made while studying Jesus’ Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matt 18:21-35. This is basically the first parable which Jesus told in Matthew involving a king and his servants (though Matt 13:24-30 might also be considered the first). But people are often troubled by statements the Lord makes to
Shall We Pray? 1 Timothy 2:1-4
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote these words about prayer: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men…For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
Adventures in Zambia
By Jerry and Beth Pattillo Jerry’s Boys Imagine people so hungry for spiritual truth, and so spiritually ripe, that all you have to do is show up and pick them. Such is the case with the impoverished people of Zambia. I was privileged to go for a fourth trip to Zambia this summer, and each
What Is Free Grace Theology?
Free Grace Theology Has Emerged over the Last 35 Years Although Free Grace theology goes back to the Lord Jesus and to His Apostles—and it was certainly evident in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries as well (e.g., Glas, Sandeman, Darby, Mackintosh, Lange, Govett)—it has really taken shape in the last 35 years. The Gospel Under
Election for Baptists: Why Biblical election is to service and privilege, not to eternal life.
Few debates among Baptists are livelier than the ones over divine election. Interestingly, despite their other disagreements, Calvinistic Baptists and Arminian Baptists both assume that Biblical election is about God choosing individuals for eternal life or death. But is that assumption Biblical? Free Grace Baptists increasingly deny it. To “elect” something, simply means to “choose”