Tag: J.I. Packer
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Marks of Revival
I had the privilege last week to meet a man convinced we are headed for revival. He is a gentle man, who thinks often of God, wishing for a return to some semblance of the way things used to be – minus the overt sins of racism and sexism that were so widely tolerated in…
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Knowing God
More than 200 names for God are recorded in the Bible. All of them are important. Each of them reveals and affirms certain characteristics of God. While God is incomprehensible – we will never exhaust what there is to know about Him – He is nevertheless knowable. He has revealed himself to us. To know…
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Losing Our Gospel Grip
Evidence abounds all around that the current Spiritual climate of the typical Evangelical church is rightly described by sociologist Christian Smith as “more akin to Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism than anything resembling historic Christianity.” I paraphrased Smith there, but it reflects the essence of Smith’s assessment. (If you want a refresher on what Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism is click here & here.)…
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Art of Our Discontent
Trevin Wax asks these questions: How do unbelievers know we are Christians? By the fish symbols on our car? By our bumper stickers? By our voting patterns? By our church attendance? No. Jesus tells us that the outside world will know we are Christians by the way we love one another. (John 13.34-35; 1 John…
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A Question of Universalism
For those following discussions of the recent posts, but who want a clearer understanding of what Universalism actually means, below you will find a good explanation from theologian J.I. Packer: A universalist is someone who believes that every human being whom God has created or will create will finally come to enjoy the everlasting salvation…
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Saved From What?
Several years ago I was asked by a neighbor couple to meet with them for marriage counseling. They were a pleasant couple, so I willingly agreed to assist them in any way I could. Early during our first meeting I asked each to tell me about their spiritual journeys. Hers was simple but heart-felt. His… well…
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Building a Bridge to Puritan Days
In Building a Bridge to the 18th Century, author Neil Postman suggests that in many ways we have not so much advanced, as a culture, as we have drifted over the years. Postman seems to believe we would do well to return to and reconnect with our philosophical roots and rebuild upon them. I might say…
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What is God Like?
What is God like? Describe to me the God you say you believe in. In the first chapter of his best selling book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan challenges his readers to ponder who God is. “Who is it that you are praying to?” Chan wants us to ask. I really appreciate that challenge and that…
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God Made Us to Pray
While studying this afternoon I stumbled upon this thought from J.I. Packer: It is not too much to say that God made us to pray; that prayer is (not the easiest, but) the most natural activity in which in which we ever engage; and that prayer is the measure of a man in God’s sight.…
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Prayer is…
Prayer…is a confessing of impotence and need, an acknowledging of helplessness and dependence, and an invoking of the mighty power of God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves… God means us… to recognize and confess our impotence, and to tell Him that we rely on Him alone, and to plead…
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Scarlett Letter Today
Inspired by an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter, on NPR’s All Things Considered, my friend Nathan Lewis probes beyond the literary and sociologic interests offered from the program. Nathan asks two striking questions: “Have we learned from Hawthorne’s scathing presentation of hypocrissy?” “Would Hester [Prynne] be welcome in our community of faith?” I want to…
