Songs for Our Temple (Week 14: Ps. 40-42)

Please join me as we turn to our next three Psalms (40-42) and reflect on how they turn us towards our true hope as we look forward to Easter.

Ash Wednesday on the Doorstep of War

An Ash Wednesday reflection in the shadow of war:

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m on Twitter impatiently refreshing, looking for news from Ukraine. I check over on Ukrainian President Zelensky’s account, too, looking for signs he’s still alive and Russia hasn’t managed to find him yet. Probably a lot of you reading this are doing the same. Death looms large this Ash Wednesday, situated amidst the first global-level conflict of the Internet era.

Advent Wreath Lighting (Week 4)

Jeff and Kathy Landis light the fourth candle as we continue through a special #52Verses52Books52Weeks journey through Advent. How does our excitement about the coming of the Savior impact others?

52 Verses, 52 Books, 52 Weeks (Week 33: Ruth)

We all yearn for rescue from aspects of life… but is that just a fairytale hope? Melanie helps us consider where our help comes from as we turn to Ruth during this week’s 52 Verses, 52 Books, 52 Weeks.

The End of the (Real) Cold War (April 26, 2021)

As we wrap up “alive,” we find that the resurrection speaks to more than just us having a body again: it speaks to restoration for the world.

What is a Resurrection Body? (April 19, 2021)

What does it mean to be resurrected? We have lots of ideas, but are they what God is actually promising? As we continue through 1 Corinthians 15 this week, we get to that central point — and struggle — with the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. It’s so important to understand so that we can approach life and death with the hope God gives us.

Spare Parts of Belief? (April 12, 2021)

This week on Steadfast, I looked at the promise of resurrection for each of us. Many in our society would accept a lot of Jesus’ teachings and yet discount the resurrection as just a comforting myth to help us cope with death. Paul has speaks very clearly in the next part of 1 Cor. 15 on why that cannot be.

The Death Toll

Since the first reported death from COVID-19 in the United States on March 2, we’ve averaged about 550 deaths per day (if you average it out over those 42 days), though the average in April is much higher. If that overall average were to continue for six months like a flu season, we would be looking at over 100,000 deaths; if the higher present rate continued, it would be more like a quarter million. Let’s hope our efforts to #FlattenTheCurve help and, more than that, let’s keep praying to the God who has power over death that he would heal our world and comfort those for whom those averages aren’t average at all, because they include their loved ones.

Joining the Local Chapter

Well, as long as Jason is doing it, I might as well too.

Hi, I'm Tim. And I'm a Calvinist.

I think Jason makes an astute observation about the inconsistencies that can occur in theology when one rejects total depravity. It strikes me that every theologian that comes to my mind that has actually created a systematic, consistent understanding of the Christian faith has generally had to accept the basic understandings of the state of humans and election that the Reformed faith eventually claimed as its own. I myself struggle at times with parts of TULIP, and have only in recent years accepted that I am clearly unable to will my own way out of Calvinism (that's a joke, folks), but in the end, the things I cannot explain in Reformed doctrine are not nearly as difficult as those things I would need to deal with should I reject this stream of theology.

Total depravity is probably the easiest of the five points to accept for me. It may be that humans are capable of mortal good, or the appearance thereof, but I thoroughly believe that humanity is capable of absolutely no spiritual good without the inner working of the Holy Spirit.

So, Jason, did you bring the donuts for the meeting?