Category Archives: Biblical

Mushy, Postmodern “Christianity”

July 24, 2008 – 8:21 am

Nathan Williams, from John MacArthur’s Shepherds’ Fellowship, reported on a recent visit to Mars Hill Bible Church. It’s a good example of how not to do church. I love creativity, I love seeing Christians that are creative. I think far too many Christians portray an uncreative God. But the solution isn’t to ignore the cross and [...]

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Single Column Bibles

May 15, 2008 – 12:21 pm

I’d really like to buy a single-column Bible in the near future. Of all of my Bible wants, I think this is the biggest. Of course, I also want a black letter Bible, that’s printed in a paragraph-by-paragraph format rather than a verse-by-verse format. Here’s a quick rundown of the major candidates: ESV Study Bible (Crossway) 9-point [...]

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Soli Deo Gloria

April 17, 2008 – 10:19 pm

Soli Deo Gloria means “God’s Glory Alone”. When Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the rest of the Reformers tried to reform the Catholic church, they summarized their teachings under five main statements: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Soli Deo Gloria (God’s Glory Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), and Sola Fide (Faith Alone). [...]

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Reading and Understanding the Bible

April 9, 2008 – 10:24 pm

The Bible is old and complex. How can I possibly expect to understand it? Every time a pastor gets up, he seems to teach something from the Bible that I’ve never even seen before. Why should I even bother trying to read it myself? The truth is, I can learn to read the Bible for myself. [...]

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Designing the Perfect Bible

April 8, 2008 – 11:33 pm

As I’ve started actually reading my Bible more, I’ve become pickier about which Bible I read. Since this is my blog, I’m going to spend some time talking about what goes into my decision. Be warned: this is slightly long winded. Translation I prefer the English Standard Version. The ESV website describes the translation this way: [...]

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Doubting Doubt

April 3, 2008 – 10:00 pm

There are many non-Christians who don’t understand either Christianity or Christians. To many skeptics, Christianity seems ludicrous and fanciful. Christians are mocked for being credulous fools, willing to believe anything. Is it true? Not really. But it can be hard to explain exactly why faith makes sense. Enter Tim Keller’s new book The Reason for God. [...]

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Building a Community

March 9, 2008 – 10:07 pm

I’ve thought about Scott’s comments all week long. He presented a contrast between preaching (reaching out to the unsaved) and teaching (reaching out to the saved). As I thought about the discussion this week, I noticed something ironic: Blackhawk is Blackhawk Evangelical Free Church. The “E-Free” denomination is supposed to be about the good news of [...]

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Preaching the Gospel or Teaching the Bible

March 3, 2008 – 11:02 pm

Alternate Title: Sheep Feeding or Adding to the Flock Hi Joe, I think your point is well taken, although I see it less as a theological issue at this time and based on the information and more an issue of preference. How do you like that for hedging:) But I’m of mixed minds about [...]

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Samson and Jesus Follow Up

March 3, 2008 – 10:53 pm

After writing last night’s post, I sent an e-mail to a friend — Scott Sager. A couple of things were running through my mind as I listened to today’s sermon. Do you think I’m off base? I actually talked (very briefly) with Matt after the sermon tonight. He basically said [...]

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Samson and Jesus

March 2, 2008 – 10:00 pm

Today’s sermon at Blackhawk (in the “The B Team: Book of Judges” series) was on Samson. Matt Metzger preached a wonderful sermon illustrating that Samson was no action hero. Samson was a narcissistic, selfish man. Everything he did was designed to feed his own ego and legend. He consistently ignored his religious vows and violated the [...]

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