Parchment & Pen Blog

Rants

Why I Don’t Think Much Of the Spiritual Formation Movement


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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 [...]

Is Expositional Preaching Really Enough?


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I love to preach. Arguably, I love to preach more than I love to teach. Yes, there is a difference. But I am getting ahead of myself . . . I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 2001 with my ThM. I had a double major in New Testament and in Pastoral Ministries. The pastoral [...]

Why I Don’t Like Christian Music


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Well, the title gives away my lack of passion for Christian music, so I am not going to do an inductive blog. There, I got it out. I don’t like Christian music. In fact, I think Christian music is theologically wrong. It is like saying “I like Christian cooking.” There is no such thing . . [...]

Short Blog: Thoughts on Testimonies


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I don’t know about you, but I don’t like most testimonies. You know, the kind that have a BC and an AD. No, it is not the testimonies themselves, but the burden of what a testimony must bear. There has to be a former way of life before Christ (BC) and what you have become [...]

In Defense of Hymns (Performed in a Classic Way)


Comments 71 Comments

I went to a church the other day and it was not much different than a rock concert. Might I say, it was a very well done rock concert. Electric guitars, drums in their own sound area, smoke, lights, and two or three people singing the latest in contemporary worship music. There was a part of [...]

Christians Can be So Bizarre or “He Hates the Buildings!”


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I sit here with a bit of a conflicted soul. On the one hand, I got the new issue of Christianity Today and found that it is devoted to the importance of doctrine in spiritual formation. Giddy. That is what I was when I read it. However, I also received an email yesterday that serves to [...]

Jesus with His Lights Turned off on Halloween


Comments 138 Comments

Will is dressing up as a ghost for Halloween. I was shocked. He has his Indiana Jones costume that he wears everywhere. I thought at least he would choose the Storm Trooper costume. I have given up on him being a superhero (Batman, Vigilante, Green Lantern, or any other DC character). Sigh… but a Ghost? [...]

Save the Kings!


Comments 12 Comments

My heart is vexed within me. I know not what to do or whence to do it. Therefore, I chose this - here and now. Not just Facebook (where my voice is only accessible by my few friends), not Twitter (where I am limited to my few followers), but here on the P&P theology blog, accessible [...]

 

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Amyraldism
[am''-er-awl''-diz-um or am''-er-ul-diz''-um] Also, amyraldianism. Named after Moses Amyraut, a theologian of the 17th century, Amyraldism is a form of Calvinism that distinguishes itself by a belief in universal atonement. Its variation from the traditional Calvinistic understanding of limited atonement comes in its formulation of divine decrees. Whereas traditional Calvinism places God’s decree to elect [...] continue reading