Parchment & Pen Blog

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure My sister Angie died in January of 2004. I believe this to be the case. In fact, I am so convicted of the truthfulness of her death I could say without hesitation that I am certain that she died. No, not [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure I have never heard God’s voice. I don’t know what he smells like. I have not seen him with my eyes and my hands have never held his. I have never seen anyone brought back from the dead. I have [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure (Warning: Santa Clause spoiler forthcoming) I have to admit it. While growing up, Santa Clause was my favorite Saint. Although at four years old, I did not know he was a Saint, nor did I care. He was the guy [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure I have done some irrational things in my life. There are way too many things to count. However, two stand out. One time when I was 12-years-old I was riding my Yamaha YZ-80 dirt bike motorcycle in an undeveloped part [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure There are so many things that I don’t know about. Yes, I have a master’s degree in theology from a four year program. A masters degree! Yes, it was very in depth. And yes, since I graduated almost a decade [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure I often tell people that when they are speaking there are a few ways to become more authoritative in the eyes of your listeners. First, speak louder. If that does not work, speak deeper. And if both of those don’t work, speak with a [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure I remember being out one night with a friend in Arizona. I was 20-years-old. My friend and I were about the craziest guys in town, with little good reputation to boot. Yet, this guy was worse than me. He had [...]

A Guide to Examining the Way We Believe So That What We Believe Will be Secure A bit over a decade ago, Evangelical pollster and sociologist George Barna concluded, based on numerous surveys, that nearly 40% of the individuals sitting in the pews in Evangelical Churches do not have enough content even to be saved. Christian Smith, the director [...]