As some of you will already know, I’ve consistently refused to support or vote for Donald Trump on moral grounds, even now that he’s secured the GOP nomination for president. I’ve heard very few remotely convincing reasons to “hold my nose” and pull the lever for The Donald. The sole exception is the “Trump says he’s pro-life, so you have a duty to support him over Hillary and save lives” argument. Let me just make it clear that I don’t find this argument finally... Read more
The New Testament calls Jesus “the last Adam.” The Apostle Paul repeatedly sets up the parallels between the two, as covenantal heads of the human race. Adam failed to obey God, and brought death on all his children (us) in his role as representative or High Priest. He transmitted this consequence through natural descent. Jesus obeyed God, and by suffering the consequences of Adam’s sin on behalf of His people and defeating death, brought them life. Paul explicitly teaches as... Read more
A few days after Jerry Falwell, Jr. was photobombed by Trump’s prized copy of Playboy Magazine, Dr. James Dobson, who’s on Trump’s faith advisory committee, claimed that The Donald has “accepted a relationship with Christ,” and is now a “baby Christian.” Am I skeptical? No more skeptical than I am about the authenticity of this famous marine biology photograph. Matthew Lee Anderson has this basically right. We shouldn’t be so cynical that we absolutely refuse, in an a priori kind of way, to believe that a... Read more
It’s become an all-too-common trope, especially in my own Reformed circles, to say that “the purpose of prayer is to change us, not God.” I really dislike this statement. On one level, it’s true, of course. We can change, and God does not. He is immutable. But on another level, it’s unscriptural nonsense. Prayer is not some psychotropic therapy we perform to make ourselves feel better. It is not a placebo. It really serves a purpose. It is the conversation... Read more
Are you tired yet? News of shootings, bombings, acts of terrorism, racism, and senseless violence are barely minutes old before it begins. The hucksters of new and old media alike mount their hobby horses and start spinning human deaths to serve pet agendas. We’ve seen the Twitter and Facebook posts, the articles, and the speeches. It seems everyone’s a huckster now. Everyone’s a salesman. The narratives seem almost written before the bullets fly. The narrators are merely waiting for an occasion to pounce.... Read more
Troubler of Israel
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