A former student sent me a link to a video about self-esteem last week. She asked for my comments. I finally made time to watch it today. Here’s the video: Matt Walsh is certainly correct here. Confidence, defined essentially as known competence in the face of difficulty is superior to self-esteem (see note below). But …
Tag: Bible
Jung and God
In Man and His Symbols, Jung attempts to tackle the topic of religious experience: Christians often ask why God does not speak to them, as he is believed to have done in former days. When I hear such questions, it always makes me think of the rabbi who was asked how it could be that …
The Epistle to James and How to Sort Yourself Out
Sort yourself out I’ve been doing Sunday school lessons on the book of James for weeks. It’s been challenging and enriching. I’ve also been listening to Jordan Peterson’s lectures for the last year or so. And in them he uses the phrase “sort yourself out” frequently. One morning, I decided I would read the book …
Sick with sin: is the ‘sin as sickness’ model true or helpful?
It is frequent in Christian circles to speak of sin as a deadly illness or sickness from which we need God’s help, healing, and deliverance. The Bible is not unfamiliar with this concept. For instance, sin and righteousness are often conceived of in terms of pure and impure. And pure and impure are often connected …
Trinity Sunday: Wesley on the Trinity
Today I taught a brief Sunday school lesson on the doctrine of the Trinity. It got me to thinking about this sermon by Wesley: On The Trinity. Here are some selections and my annotations: Hence, we cannot but infer, that there are ten thousand mistakes which may consist with real religion; with regard to which …
The Creation Narrative and Human Excellence
Here’s a repost from my old blog: Before we go on, below is the story of the creation of man in Genesis 1. Go ahead and read it in full as a refresher. Gen 1:26-31 ESV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over …
Headship and Submission in Marriage
A friend recently asked about this topic, so I thought I’d give a sketch of my thoughts. I won’t be citing any sources, but hopefully what I cite as evidence is either self-evident or easily obtainable. The basic question is this: What does is mean to submit to your husband as the head of the …
Approval seeking and its dangers
Everybody wants to be accepted and approved of. In fact, social rejection (or by inference, sense of rejection by God) can be just as jarring as physical pain. There’s a haunting scene in the gospels in which people respond negatively to Jesus, and while he has a theological explanation for the event at hand, he …
Who Should Evangelize?
I saw this quote online today: It raised an interesting point that I think needs brief elaboration. Here’s the great commission from Matthew 28:18-20: Matthew 28:18-20 ESV And Jesus came and said to them [the eleven disciples], “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Go therefore and make disciples …
What does the Bible say about finding romance?
Perhaps the two most frequent things young Christian men ask me for advice about are relationships and overcoming a pornography habit. I’ll stick with relationships, though Dallas Willard has great advice for those who struggle to kick pornography: Beyond Pornography. On to relationships. Most of the guys who ask for advice, though sometimes women come to …