It has been almost sixty years since I became a Christian. Beginning in1968 I have been involved in Christian pastoral ministry and part-time teaching until 2021 after which I served on the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as professor of philosophy. Over the years, I have witnessed an appreciable decline in biblical knowledge in general and theological understanding in ..read more

Those of us who spend a considerable amount of time on our highways may tend to take for granted the great benefit of painted lines on our highways. I am speaking of the yellow lines painted in the middle of the road and white lines along the sides of our highways. The white lines not only mark the right extremity of the driver’s lane, but they are also invaluable when driving on secondary roads at ..read more

As a boy growing up on a dairy farm in Maine, I never gave much thought to the ubiquitous stone walls that defined much of the landscape where I worked and played. They were just there and I knew that some of my ancestors had built them as they were early settlers to the area. I knew that stone walls separated our property from our neighbors who were our relatives. I also knew that it was a ..read more

The memories of my childhood in Nobleboro, Maine (mid coast) are a source of immeasurable delight. Life was not perfect, but it was good. My parents were part of what Tom Brokaw celebrated as “The Greatest Generation.” After World War II (my father fought in the Pacific), my parents settled in “the valley” when I was three years old and eventually started a small dairy farm where we ..read more

Many Christians have from time to time felt discouraged by the direction many evangelical churches or Christians take as they move closer and closer to the world. It is easy to think that our times are the most spiritually compromised in the history of the Church, but a look at the New Testament and Church History reveals there has always been a mix of faithfulness and lukewarmness (Rev 3:16) in the ..read more

One wonders what assumptions informed evangelical Christians to begin using the concept of engaging culture as a synonym for certain contexts of evangelism. I say assumptions because I find no obvious teaching of Scripture that would reasonable justification for thinking of evangelism in this way. It seems strange to use such an ambiguous concept to guide or inform the Christian work of evangelism ..read more

It is interesting how many Christians and/or Christian organizations think God forms judgments bases on averages and statistics. Notice when a Christian group is cited for bad judgment in supporting questionable cultural fads or methods, they shift the discussion to all the good they have done or are doing. For example, consider those who employ worldly-crafted methods in their ministries ..read more