Parchment & Pen Blog

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 [...]

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 [...]

One of my students graduated recently from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and he is heading into seminary and then the pastorate. He took a full platter of classes from me, and we had excellent discussions in and outside the classroom. As a graduation gift, his girlfriend asked another professor and me to write him a [...]

Help me out here… The Associated Press reports: “A tiny Louisville church’s newest minister is a gifted music leader and popular among its three dozen members. Mark Hourigan is also a sex offender. Almost a decade ago, long before he joined the flock at the City of Refuge Worship Center, he was convicted of sexually [...]