Parchment & Pen Blog

Perseverance of the Saints From Theological Word of the Day. Subscribe and get a new word every weekday. The doctrine, often associated with Calvinism and first articulated by Saint Augustine, which holds that those who are truly elect of God will persevere in belief until final redemption. This doctrine is sometimes used synonymously with “Eternal [...]

It would seem that many people are seeking to renounce their faith in a more official way. Reports out of England tell of over 100,000 people downloading a De-Baptism certificate. Yes, that is right. Read it for yourself—a certificate to make their departure from Christianity a black and white matter. I have spilled quite a [...]

I think that each one of us has a particular anchor to our faith. For some it is a rationalistic conclusion about the design of the universe. For others, it is a feeling they get when the read the Scripture. Still, for others, it is a particular experience that they have in their lives. When [...]

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1. Zach is doing much better. No cancer! Thank you all so much for praying. I have not been able to process my joy (and surprise) at how many of you prayed. It is very encouraging. I really mean that. 2. The IRS says I owe them $2000 in back taxes! From 2005. What is [...]

Why go to church? Church stinks. People are either rude, looking down their self-righteous nose at you, or they are nice and in a hurry. I hardly ever have a significant conversation at the church service, it is just “Hi,” or “Good to see you,” or “How’s the family?” or something churchy and pithy like [...]

UPDATE 2: Zach has a condition called Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). It is from the virus that attacted him. The virus is gone but the ITP is still there. The condition is not too serious, we just have to make sure his blood platelets rise soon. This comes through diet (eating meats and food high [...]

I spend a lot of my time reading books that are very difficult to read. In my library I have dozens of books from atheistic authors, most of them former Christians who left the faith. Their leaving is tagged with a variety of reasons, but they primarily have to do with some sort of “awakening” [...]

This reflection is a response to “The Coming Evangelical Collapse“ by Michael Spencer published in The Christian Science Monitor (March 10 2009) I have for years believed that American Evangelicalism (not Christianity) was skating on thin ice, spiritually and intellectually. As a movement we (not all of us individually) have suffered from a host of [...]

You can now visit our new website dedicated to this project. Doors should be opening in a few weeks!

This concerns an event that happened in 2003 with my sister Angie. When my sister Angie was sick with depression, the entire family was perpetually in fear of what she might do to herself. Her depression overcame her literally overnight. She was fine on a Thursday, never having experienced depression and anxiety before, then Friday [...]