Parchment & Pen Blog

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 [...]

When Christian leaders talk about how to live a godly life, they eventually turn to the gray areas those things that are right for some but wrong for others. You know the list: drinking, smoking, watching R rated movies, playing cards, dancing, using colorful language, listening to Country-Western music (OK that last one is not [...]

The other day, my daughter did the dishes without me asking. Wait…there’s more. Get this: it is not even her job to do the dishes anymore! It is my other daughter’s job. Those of you who are parents know what I am talking about. You know, the frustrations of trying to get your kids to [...]

Last week I went to lunch with a student here in Edmond, OK. While I rarely get the chance, whenever I can, I go to a stake joint just down the road. I love steaks. After I ordered, the waitress asked the normal question: “How would you like that cooked?” “Medium rare” I responded. As [...]

You know what I hate? I hate when I am corrected by my wife. Especially when she is right! My first tendency is to get defensive. “Michael, do you think you can start trying to spend more quality time with the kids?” (just to throw something completely random out there that I have never actually [...]

My daughter, Katelynn, who is eleven, wants to start wearing make-up. I have a rule: No make-up at all until she is twelve. My wife does not agree with me. She thinks I am being legalistic. I can’t help it. That is just the way I think. I can justify it in ten different ways [...]

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 [...]

For those of you who, like me, struggle daily not only with sin, but with the “How-Can-I-As-A-Christian-Still-Struggle-With-Sin?” thing, find encouragement in Stedman’s Authentic Christianity (specifically from a section entitled “The Battle Already Won”): “Since we can live only in one area of relationships of our life at any given moment, it is evident that we can [...]

I was talking to someone the other day. He was distraught and depressed about his faith. Though he had experienced a dramatic conversion a few years back, the last year has been full of trials and temptations which lead him back into a lifestyle which he thought was in his rear-view mirror. Along with his [...]

In theology, I have learned what the three most controversial topics are: 1. Women in ministry 2. Creation/Evolution issues 3. Calvinism/Arminianism stuff I would put them in that order too. Talk about these topics, and be prepared for a divided crowed. Blog one of these issues and get ready for the comments section to explode. Take [...]

“Don’t write me!” That is the classic preemptive strike of Chuck Swindoll during a sermon. If he says something that he knows people will have problems with (and he often does), it’s his way of informing them that he already knows the issues with what he is saying and has resolved to say it anyway. [...]

Roger Olson is my favorite Evangelical Arminians. He has a unique ability to be an anchor of doctrinal stability and a provocative juggernaut of theological inquiry that causes us to scratch our heads and, many times, reshape our paradigms. I have used his The Mosaic of Christian Belief in The Theology Program for over six [...]