Parchment & Pen Blog

Do not read this book! Yes, there are many reasons why many of you should strongly consider never reading this book.  The Driscolls say this at the beginning of chapter 10: If you are older, from a highly conservative religious background, live far away from a major city, do not spend much time on the [...]

I am a Calvinist; others are Arminian. I believe in a premillenial eschatology; others are amillenial. I am a traducianist with regards to the creation of the soul; others are creationists. I believe in reasoned inerrancy; others believe this is an archaic naive doctrine. There are many points of doctrinal division I am going to have [...]

Last night I was talking to a hungry young “seeker” who has been coming to “Coffee and Theology” for four weeks now. After class each week he patiently waits for everyone from the study to leave so that he can sit down and drill me with questions. He is not antagonistic and has no intention [...]

To pray to someone is an act of worship. Most essentially, prayer is transcendent communication with someone who does not, during the communication, share your “plane of existence.” In other words, it is an expression of fellowship with someone with whom you are in a non-empirical relationship. Let me put it another way: I don’t [...]

Why do you believe in God? “Because I know deep in my heart that he exists.” Why do you believe Christ rose from the grave? “Because I have experienced the same power in my life.” Why do you think the Bible is true? “Because it speaks to me in places that no other book has.” [...]

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 [...]