Issue
All the Feels: The Bible and Emotions
Vol. 27, No. 5 • Sep/Oct 2018
In Southern California—the birthplace of the Calvary Chapel movement and home to multiple “burned-over” districts, where the fire of evangelical zeal consumed (and disappointed) many a newly converted soul—the reformational church has long been having a PR crisis. Small, straitlaced, and unsexy, it lives on the outskirts of the Protestant world, too confessional to be […]
All Articles (13)
Letter from the Editor
In Southern California—the birthplace of the Calvary Chapel movement and home to multiple “burned-over” districts, where the fire of evangelical zeal consumed (and disappointed) many a newly converted soul—the reformational church has long been having a PR crisis. Small, straitlaced, and unsexy, it lives on the outskirts of the Protestant world, too confessional to be […]
Where Do We Go from Here?
It’s not exactly a revelation to say that racial tension is part of American existence. The fact that the recent deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Charleena Lyles, and others have elicited such polarizing responses and reactions is evidence of this. The tension isn’t new—the social and legal boundaries separating black and white […]
The Art of My Reformation
For the past thirty years, I’ve worked as a professional realist, specializing in the hyper-realist style. My artistic education nurtured my affinity for the paintings produced during the Reformation, but my understanding of the theological developments from that period took somewhat longer to develop. Like most Bible-believing Christians in our day, I began my spiritual […]
Reflections on the Reformed Resurgence
It is now over a decade since Collin Hansen coined the term “young, restless, and Reformed” (YRR) to characterize a rising generation of Christians who had rediscovered the vitality of the central doctrines of the Reformation: Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, and so on. What Hansen (then a journalist with Christianity Today) had noticed […]
“Nothing More Than Feelings”?
“Feelings, nothings more than feelings,” so sang Perry Como. For my wife’s sake, I’ll throw in the Bees Gees as well: “It’s just emotion that’s taken me over.” We could go on—and on. In our pop culture, emotions are really nothing more than strong feelings we basically cannot control. On the other hand, they are […]
Jonathan Edwards: The Theologian of Joy
I have been searching for joy my entire life, and I believe I am not alone. If pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is correct, then we are all on the same quest. The reason is because we were created for joy. Yet the quest to find it—that is, true spiritual happiness—often leads us to […]
Christian Living
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Help! Saved but Still Sinning
Sanctification isn’t effortless. The act of dying to sin implies spiritual battle and life-long war against sin. Living unto righteousness implies costly, intensive labor that daily says “no” to sin and “yes” to Christlikeness. So what do we do when we fail yet again? How can we overcome feelings of failure, defeat, and self-loathing when we sin?
Fearing Death Isn’t a Sin. Here’s Why.
“To the one who is afraid of death, dear brother or sister, Don’t let your fear turn into faithlessness, but instead offer it to God.” Jesus’s death and resurrection have transformed what death means for the Christian. Pastor Adriel shares that feeling fear at the approach of death is not automatically sinful, however, the real […]
The Weight of Steadfastness
What if the discomfort we’ve avoided—the very trial we’ve begged God to remove—is the instrument our loving Father is using to bring us to completion, the place where lasting joy is found?
Assurance in the Shadow of Doubt
The coexistence of assurance and doubt is not a contradiction, but a reflection of the Christian life lived between justification and glorification. True assurance rests not in the strength of one’s faith, but in the object of that faith—Jesus Christ—and the presence of doubt, while unsettling, does not nullify genuine belief.
