Give Him the Great Things: Catechizing the Next Generation
During the latter part of Queen Victoria’s reign, educational philosopher Charlotte Mason astutely observed, “The wonder that Almighty God can endure so far to leave the making of an immortal being in the hands of human parents is only matched by the wonder that human parents can accept this divine trust with hardly a thought of its significance.”[1] A bit harsh perhaps, especially considering that Mason never had any children...
Walking through Pain and Suffering: During and Beyond a Pandemic
As I’m writing this article, our world finds itself facing a pandemic. Like many, I’m wondering how to navigate through the difficult uncertainty of each day. Weeks feel like years for many. Each day is different. News about the severity (or lack thereof) of COVID-19 changes with each briefing from local and federal authorities. One thing is for certain: We will feel the impact of these strange times for years to come. The situation...
The Future of the Sufficiency of Scripture
When we think about the future, we can easily get excited or anxious about the newness of all that is involved. For example, think back to your childhood and the excitement and/or anxiety that a new school year brought. A new school year meant new clothes, new shoes, new school supplies, new classrooms, and new teachers. All this change brought a level of excitement about what was to come and also perhaps some anxiety. When we think...
The Future of Practical Theology Among Free Will Baptists
We can identify much of what we seek to do in everyday life as “practical theology.” We’ve grown accustomed to various mantras and assertions that “all of life is theological”—and it is. We cannot avoid thinking, feeling, and behaving in theological ways. All of life is under the lordship of Christ, and thus it is all, ultimately, of theological significance. Yet, if all of theology is not only Christ-centered and biblically-based but...
Free Will Baptist Ecclesiology in the Twenty-first Century
In an age of global pandemics, financial upheaval, and an increasingly secularized western culture, ecclesiology might sound like a topic reserved for those with their heads in the sand—idealists out of touch with reality. For many, the most important thing that Christians can and should do is to share the gospel with as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Any perceived hindrance to that is simply that: a hindrance. But I...
The Pro-life Ethic of Orphan Care
The confession to which Free Will Baptists subscribe is the Faith and Practices of Free Will Baptists. The name of our treatise follows the traditional dual concern for orthodoxy (right doctrine or belief) and orthopraxy (right practice). This latter emphasis (practices) sometimes goes by the name ethics. Sometimes when we hear the word ethics, we think of the hot-button issues of our day, such as abortion, biotechnology, capital...
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