Another Fathers Day comes around.  Thank God for good fathers and there are so many of them.  Unfortunately, I was not so blessed, but I have had wonderful father surrogates such as my doctoral advisor Niels Nielsen, my main seminary mentor Ralph Powell and my dear friend Roger Fredrikson (all now in their 90s and going strong!).  These men leaned into my life in ways beyond the call of duty and much of any good I have achieved is due... Read more

Several commenters here have argued (some of them being lawyers) that the bills I have complained about would never be used to prosecute humanitarians acting on behalf of needy illegal immigrants.  I think that is naive. However, one attorney in particular (from California) posted a comment here claiming that IF a humanitarian were ever arrested on the basis of the Oklahoma, Alabama or Texas laws he would have no trouble getting the person acquitted based on case law. I’m not... Read more

According to AP reports the Texas legislature has now approved a bill (and the governor will sign it) giving permission to law enforcement officers in Texas to ask about anyone’s legal status in the U.S. during any detention including a routine traffic stop.  In fact, the law is aimed at law enforcement agencies in the state including county and city sheriff and police departments because many of them have policies forbidding racial profiling.  According to critics, this law’s entire purpose... Read more

It happens all the time.  I move around in evangelical circles quite a bit and overhear conversations and receive comments about Arminianism.  And I invite Calvinists to my classes. I am certainly not claiming that all Calvinists are guilty of this, but many, in my experience, do not seem to care about representing Arminianism fairly. Here’s a typical example.  A friend and I drove quite a way to browse at a used theological bookstore.  The owner is a passionate five... Read more

Yet another state, populated largely by people who consider themselves Christians, has apparently criminalized Christian behavior toward illegal immigrants.  At least according to the Associated Press which says in an article published in my local newspaper June 10 that Alabama’s new immigration law makes it “a crime to knowingly give an illegal immigrant a ride.”  That’s the AP saying that, not me.  If you think that’s mistaken, please prove it. Many Americans have developed very nasty attitudes toward illegal immigrants... Read more

ONE of the following stories is false.  At least, it didn’t happen to me.  And I believe it to be a version of what is called an “evangelegend.”  And evangelegend is a religious urban legend–a story that makes the rounds of a religious subculture without verification and nobody ever seems to know to whom it happened or where.  And yet many people believe it is true. The first person to correctly identify the evangelegend may receive a free, autographed copy... Read more

Do you have a TRUE story of “pulpit humor” to share here?  One commenter shared that a Nazarene preacher told his congregation “I want to see some of you Nazarene women without pants on!”  It’s hard to believe, but I’ve heard worse. So here’s my worst or best one (depending on your perspective, I guess): Setting–denominational convention, Sunday evening “big service” with thousands in attendance.  The denominational leaders and guest speakers (mostly men) sitting on the platform during the “song... Read more

I capitalize “Fundamentalism” because here I’m talking about the movement.  Increasingly I am adopting the practice of distinguishing between two sense of many religious labels: the movement of that name and the ethos described by that label.  For example, evangelicalism is an ethos shared by people in virtually every denomination.  Evangelicalism (with a capital E) is the post-WW2, post-fundamentalist movement initially led by Billy Graham, Harold John Ockenga, Carl F. H. Henry, et al. The wonderful new book that I... Read more

In response to my and others’ challenges to explain in what sense he and other authors of Whosoever Will are not Arminians Steve Lemke posted a message about “The Middle Way” (allegedly between Arminianism and Calvinism) at: http://sbctoday.com/2011/06/07/the-middle-way/ You’ll have to read that to understand my response. Basically, Lemke’s argument seems to me (unless I am missing something) to amount to me saying “I am not a Protestant because some Protestants believe in infant baptism.”  Who would take that seriously?... Read more

Recently there has been some discussion of the claim by the editors of Whosever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism (B&H Academic, 2010) that they are not Arminians.  Here I responded to that claim as have others. Please read my review of Whosoever Will in The Southwestern Journal of Theology at: http://www.baptisttheology.org/WhosoeverWill.cfm There I make clear that, whether the editors and authors of the book claim the title Arminian or not, the theology of the book and its authors... Read more