Parchment & Pen Blog

Please note that our ministries 990 is available on Guidestar. The DNA of Reclaiming the Mind Ministries (RMM) started in 2001 on a Saturday morning with a group of singles. It was there I taught my first intro to theology course. It quickly became evident how important this type of ministry was. From there we began [...]

One of the most terrifying things about going through depression is the idea that it will never end. Our minds are terrificly mysterious. Our minds play tricks on us. Whatever disposition we find ourselves in we believe it is permanent. When I experienced my time of depression last month, ignorance was not a friend. I [...]

“I can’t wait to get out of this body and off this earth to live with Jesus forever.” “The things on earth are all evil. Material possessions, earthly relationships, and concerns about your health are all worthless compared to what we will experience in heaven.” “Death is freedom for the soul.” “Christ was a divine [...]

I was recently reading through 1 Corinthians and had to park on this passage.  I think the tendency when reading this passage is to impose an individualized meaning on it.  If fact, I read it that way for years.  I better watch how exactly I build for the Lord, since my work will be tested [...]

I would like to thank David Burke for taking so much time from his busy life to participate in this debate. His efforts have given all of us an opportunity to learn a great deal from the contrasting arguments for our two theological positions. Trinitarianism versus Unitarianism: Defining the Issues The doctrine of the Trinity [...]

Biblical Christology: Which Way does the Evidence Point? In previous weeks I have shown that my arguments are strongly supported by standard authorities and a broad range of recent Trinitarian scholarship. This week I will be summarising the key elements of the Biblical Unitarian position, identifying key weaknesses in the Trinitarian position, and weighing the [...]

I am not sure who to blame. Is it the writers or ABC? I am sure that I carry some of the blame as well since I was a participant. Either way, that was six years of my life that is gone into the abyss of purgatory. I am trying to keep an open mind [...]

“Ninety-nine percent truth and one percent error amounts to one-hundred percent error.” This is what I was taught when I was nineteen-years-old. And I believed it. It sounded good. It sounded full of conviction and assurance and that is what I liked to hear. For many years I lived under the assumption of this powerful statement, [...]

I had the immense privilege this past semester of taking Historical Theology II with Dr. John Hannah.  One day, we had a discussion about classic American cults and he talked about common distinguishing factors of these cults of which five major themes were identified. Now I am not sure anyone reading this would voluntarily enter [...]

Have you heard something like this: “When Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane asking for relief, it was the human side of him speaking.” Or how about this, “When Christ said that he did not know the day or the hour of his coming, that was the human person talking, not the divine.” Or even [...]

One of the best ways to confirm the Christian faith is through prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ. As I read through certain portions of the Old Testament I can’t help but be amazed at the evident hand of God in the composition of these Scriptures. God tells the Israelites, who were continually [...]

I cannot tell you how many times I have been called a heretic. It simply comes with the territory of teaching theology. I have been called a heretic by anti-dispensationalists, Catholics, egalitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and, of course, my anti-Calvinistic friends. The word “heretic” seems to be well worn these days. With so many different beliefs [...]