I love that at Adaton we are taking one of the great hymns of the faith each month and memorizing them together.  February was A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, March is The Solid Rock.   Brian and I selected twelve hymns to cover twelve months, but one that didn’t make the cut (but easily could have) is a favorite of both of ours, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  Robert Robinson wrote that hymn in 1752, and I’ve been trying to memorize this one on my own this month, and to meditate on the meaning of the verses. Verse two...

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Liberal Protestant Christianity is just about played out in America.  It began in the late 19th century when the leadership of mainline protestant denominations (meaning the old northern Baptists, Episcopalians, the United Churches of Christ, many Lutherans and Presbyterians and, more recently and very sadly, the historically magnificent Methodist churches) began, as a response to the challenge of modernity, to discard the supernatural elements of the faith.  They tried to argue that the "narrative" of Christianity was important as a symbol to encourage mankind's attempts at finding significance and purpose, but that the Bible was not in any way to be taken...

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One of the hurdles to belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ is to make up your mind about the Bible.  Namely, can the Bible be trusted?  Does it accurately report what Jesus of Nazareth said and did in history?  Christianity, unlike almost every other world religion, is based on events in world history, and if these events did not take place (like the virginal conception of Jesus, his perfect life, his death, burial, and resurrection) then Christianity is worthless.  Or, as the apostle Paul wrote, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still...

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As a pastor in a college town, I'm constantly getting questions about guidance – how can I know the Lord's will for my life?  One of the most relevant verses to the issue of God's leading is Proverbs 16:3 – "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."  I listened to a sermon the other day (by Tim Keller) and realized that I have been misreading this verse for years – maybe you have, too. I thought it meant that if you pray over your plans and in some spiritual way "commit" them to the Lord...

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Few subjects generate more debate among Christians (and, sometimes, outright rancor) that the age-old question: Calvinism or Arminianism?  In other words, how exactly do God's sovereignty and human responsibility interact in the salvation of sinners?  Who's ultimately in control?  Some Arminians (Christians who lean toward man having the final say) think Calvinists (Christians who focus more on the sovereignty of God in salvation) are anti-evangelistic, anti-missionary, cold hearted creatures, while some Calvinists think that biblical Arminians aren't really Christians.  Neither view is helpful. Charles Simeon, a wonderful Anglican minister and thorough Bible teacher from the early 19th century, and a Calvinist (though...

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