Parchment & Pen Blog

There have been so many times in my life when God has not shown up. So many times when I am at my wits end, when it is forth and long, ninth inning, I put up a last hope three pointer and the ball hits the tape and falls gently on my side of the [...]

(Lisa Robinson) Last year, an opportunity opened up for me to teach a group of very-young-in-the-faith believers.   This is not the first time I have worked with new believers but I find that I am taking a different approach this time.  You would think that one of the first things I would teach them was [...]

I was recently asked to participate in a group that is creating a curriculum in the area of “spiritual formation.” I have never really written or spoken much on this, but my nerve endings are a bit sensitive when the subject is introduced. In other words, I can hang with it for a bit, but [...]

In the portfolio of my Christian life, there are a few events, lessons, and people who stand out and deserve a page in my “book.” There are many things that stand out prominently in my spiritual education as causing me to have one of those “ah ha” moments: Chet Lackey, my pastor from age 16-21. Mark Hitchcock’s [...]

I see myself as an evangelical (lower case) Christian (uppercase) apologist. I think every Christian is an apologist to some degree. No, not a “professional apologist” like Rob Bowman, William Lane Craig, or Mike Licona, but we all have formulated some degree of warrant or justification for our faith. Just like everyone is a theologian, every [...]

I have come to have a love-hate relationship with theology. I love it because it can deepen one’s faith, helping people to rejoice more because they understand and know God better (Jer. 9:24). There is nothing more exciting than the look on peoples’ faces when they are being theologically transformed. It is the “wow, this is really [...]

Mr. Patton, I have been a believer for quite sometime – since I was eight. It’s a miracle, however, that I believe at all. I grew up in a Oneness Pentecostal home that was very legalistic and rigid. Since then I have changed a great deal in regard to my beliefs. I very much believe [...]

“Grant to us that we sit on you right hand and left hand in glory.” Such were the presumptuous words of James and John to Jesus (Mark 10:35). I have often wondered who will have such places of prestige in heaven. Who will shine like stars? Who will have the brightest halos? Who will have [...]

(Lisa Robinson) As Halloween approaches, you can bet the discussions will increase amongst Christians, as they normally do.  One faction promotes participation while the other faction wants all Christians to see the horrors of Halloween and why they should not participate.  But that is neither here nor there because I believe it is a matter [...]

Annual Halloween post! Will is dressing up as a ghost for Halloween. I was shocked. He has an Indiana Jones costume that he wears everywhere. Or, I thought he might choose the Storm Trooper costume. I have given up on him being a superhero (Batman, Vigilante, Green Lantern, or any other DC character). Sigh… but [...]

I have asked a few respected Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute on the issue of Christians and doubt. I am grateful to each one of these men for not only contributing here, but being the type of scholar who deals with such issues with openness. I am posting them one at a time over [...]

(Lisa Robinson) Saturday morning, the Facebook app on my Blackberry got stuck.  It seemed the best solution to rectify the problem was to uninstall it and then re-install it.  No problem, that’s exactly what I did, or so I thought.  After re-installing, I went to log in and got the message “unable to connect to [...]