By Bud Brown My daughter-in-law recently posted a Facebook message about our ten-year-old grandson who has muscular dystrophy. My son was scared tonight. He can feel his muscles deteriorate and is afraid of the day he can no longer walk. He is upset and concerned what this means for his life. As he sobbed in

By Zane C. Hodges Function and Maturity 3:1. The discussion of privilege in the public gatherings of the Church as they relate to men and women leads quite naturally to the discussion of another privilege—that of spiritual oversight. It is a good work (kalou ergou). An ascending scale is seen. Just as public prayer and

A chapter from Chosen to Serve: Why Divine Election Is to Service, Not to Eternal Life. By Shawn Lazar Introduction When theologians write or talk about the decrees of God, it is usually in hushed and reverential tones. These decrees are said to lay at the very heart of the mystery of predestination and election

By Ric Webb When you look at Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal—the son with his head shaved, his clothes tattered and torn, no robe, his sandals bare to the sole—you see the picture of one who has been brought to the brink of despair. Broken and bleeding…and most of it within. He makes

By Bill Fiess with Bob Wilkin Many theologians and pastors today do not like to use the word believe when speaking of saving faith. They much prefer to speak of trust or even heartfelt trust. For example, Dr. Wayne Grudem in his recent book on clarity in evangelism said repeatedly that saving faith is “heartfelt

By Shawn Lazar There are two standards for evaluating a logical argument. First, is it true? And second, is it valid? When an argument has true premises and is valid, you call it sound. According to the first standard, in order for a logical argument to be true, the premises must be true. That’s common

  By Ken Yates Many people in the Free Grace movement were introduced to Free Grace Theology through the ministry of a Bible teacher or pastor. In many of those instances, the teacher had been exposed to that theology in seminary. Often, that seminary was Dallas Theological Seminary. But things have changed. Free Grace Theology

By Brandon Burdette Years ago I attended a Baptist church in Los Angeles. It was during this period that I’d assimilated as much Reformed theology as I could get my hands on. I was halfway through the membership course in this Calvinist church when one of my worst church experiences occurred. It happened on a

By Staff Love Q: According to 1 John 3:23, must Christians love one another to be saved? A: Some think 1 John teaches that we must behave a certain way to be saved, or at least to prove we are saved. For example, they say if we don’t love other Christians, then we are not