Tracing the Crimson Thread
An earlier edition of this article was first published in The Brink Magazine, Vol. VII, Issue 1, Fall 2015 September – November. George MacDonald writes in his delightful little children’s book The Princess and the Goblin about a silvery thread Princess Irene’s grandmother makes for her. This thread is made to lead the young princess back to her grandmother—especially in the midst of danger. The problem is, the thread only works if...
There Is No Golden Age
What’s your ideal place or time in history? Maybe you’d enjoy the slow pace and small town charm of a place like Mayberry where things seem simpler and people seem kinder. Or maybe you’d prefer a more exotic setting like England during the age of Shakespeare. The past may not be your thing. You might prefer some time or place in the future when transportation is easier, cancer has been cured, and poverty has been greatly alleviated....
Reflections on the 2015 Theological Symposium
This past Monday and Tuesday, numerous students, scholars, and ministry leaders gathered in Mabee Hall on the campus of Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College for the annual Free Will Baptist Theological Symposium. The theme of this year’s program was “The Theology of Discipleship.” As eight participants of various scholarly backgrounds presented papers on a diversity of subjects, it was rewarding to see how each subject not only bore...
Responding to Intolerance: World Transformation
Increasingly we find ourselves in a society that treats us with hostility for our Christian convictions.* What do we do? How do we respond? First, we allow the gospel to transform our lives, impacting our heads, hearts, and hands, as the saying goes (see Responding to Intolerance: Life Transformation). However, salvation is about more than our personal redemption; it’s about the renewal of the world. Thus we respond to intolerance by...
The Battle for the Mind
Conservative Christians are often perceived by the world as backward, bumbling purveyors of ignorance. Some even go so far as to describe conservative Christians as willfully ignoring plain facts in order to retain outdated views. These representations are painful, sometimes infuriating, though perhaps not completely unfounded. Even though Peter commanded us to always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason...
Recommended Books (Autumn 2015)
Orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right actions) are ever present concerns and topics of discussion for Christians. The New Testament is replete with pleas for the church to protect the sound doctrine that had been handed down to them and to live in accordance with the Scriptures. One generation later, Clement of Rome (ad 95) rebuked the Corinthian church: though they used to have “[t]he commandments and the ordinances of the...
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