Parchment & Pen Blog

It is hard for me, as a teacher of theology, to consider anything worse than bad doctrine in the church. When people’s views of God become distorted, their lives follow suit. When someone believes  it is always God’s will to heal their sickness, they are going to be left disillusioned and riddled with spiritual pain. When peripheral issues [...]

[Please welcome with me Clinton C. Roberts. Clint is becoming a good friend of mine. He lives here in Edmond Oklahoma is a member of the Credo House. He has a Ph.D. from the University of South Africa, he is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma and Liberty, and he served as a missionary in Utah to the [...]

We try to make friends with people who are like us. This is a dangerous business, as it can worsen our own problems, since our friendships often serve to justify within ourselves the issues for which we are not proud. “He does this too, so it can’t be that bad…right?”  When our friends are like us, [...]

Theological Avoidance fallacy: n. Thinking theology is impractical for true Christian living. This is very common in our world. It is also, to some degree, understandable. People are tired of “searching” for answers and have decided to just enjoy the journey. While it may not be called “emerging” anymore, the mood is still present and [...]

Rewards in heaven. I hope to have some, but the idea of rewards in heaven is difficult to fit into my theology. My mother used to say, “As long as I make it, I don’t care if I am riding a tricycle.” Christ taught that there will be rewards in heaven. Each person will receive [...]

All the knowledge in the world with no tact is worthless. A little knowledge with a lot of tact can change the world. “Handling” people. That is one of the hardest things to learn about in life. How to “handle” our spouse. How to “handle” our moody boss. How to “handle” a person at church [...]

(Lisa Robinson) Frank Viola posted this article on his blog, written by Jon Zens. The article talks about the insidious nature and impact of gossip. Here’s his definition Gossip is second or third hand information that someone dumps on you without your prior consent and without the consent of the person being gossiped about. Gossip can [...]