Parchment & Pen Blog

Absurd n. utterly or obviously senseless, illogical, or untrue; contrary to all reason or common sense. Bizarre n. markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd. The human mind can entertain bizarre things. I remember when I was young, I had this nagging and, [...]

It is no secret that our culture today has been/is undergoing a massive paradigm shift with regards to the way people come to know truth. The atmosphere of the intellectual landscape has changed. For many, confidence, certainty, and dogmatism have been replaced with doubt, skepticism, and agnosticism. All truth claims are held in high suspicion. [...]

When I first became committed to the things of the Lord, I was a sponge. I took whatever anyone was giving so long as they said they loved Jesus. I bought whatever was sold as long as it had a cross on it. I remember my bookshelf when I was just beginning. It consisted of [...]

PDF We Evangelicals talk a lot about essentials and non-essentials. Rightly so. We talk about distinguishing between those areas in our faith – those doctrines – which are central or “cardinal” doctrines, and those which are not so important. However, we often have trouble when someone asks us to define, distinguish, and defend this whole “essentials/non-essentials” distinction. [...]

Jeffrey Bingham, the chair of the theology department at Dallas Theological Seminary, has a phrase he uses when people advocate something that is not a part of the historic Christian faith: “It’s something, but it’s not Christian.” More and more lately I have been asking this question: When do we, in our zeal to remove [...]

(by Lisa Robinson) In the wake of the Bell debacle, Tim Challies has written an excellent article here about three notable observations.  Overall, I agree with his assessment that the Evangelical world has become too mealy on truth rooted in the historic Christian faith.  He challenges the notion that doubt, opaqueness and unanswered questions have [...]

(by Lisa Robinson) I have read John 11 many times and have been immensely ministered by it.  It seems each time I do, there is something fresh to be gleaned in the text.  So as I listened to this radio broadcast the other day whereby the preacher was identifying three reasons why Jesus wept, I [...]

(by Lisa Robinson) I was listening to a radio broadcast the other day and the preacher was giving a lesson on the Decalogue.  He provided a description of God’s law that broken down into three categories – Ceremonial, Civil and Moral.  When Christ fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17), it did not mean an abrogation but [...]

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 [...]