As one who holds to historic Christian teaching on sex and marriage, I believe that Eugene Peterson is very wrong on homosexuality. But I’m gradually coming to understand what a daily burden holding fast on this doctrine can be, particularly for Christians whose gifts and temperaments place them “out there,” in the nexus of city and culture. That’s what I hear in Peterson’s interview: a theological sigh, an admission that the existential toll of living and serving among those to whom he would have to preach repentance is simply too much.

In this podcast we’re discussing the Nicene Creed and in particular, we’re looking at the part of the confession that deals with the Jesus, and particularly the person of Jesus. We will be dealing with the works of the Jesus later.

From time to time I make new entries into this continuing series called “Theological Primer.” The idea is to present big theological concepts in around 500 words. Today we look at limited atonement.

The Bible frames our existence not by our usefulness, not by what we accomplish, but by what we enjoy. The purpose and meaning of life, then, may not be about finding something useful to do as much as it is about learning how to engage in seemingly useless activity. Like marveling at the beauty of God and his creation.

We have many responsibilities for our fellow Christians, but being their judge is not one of them. Christ alone is that (Rom. 14:4, 10-13). How sad it is to hear (as we do far too often) the name of another Christian mentioned in conversation, only for someone to pounce immediately on him or her in criticism. That is not so much a mark of discernment as it is the evidence of a judgmental spirit.

I cringe almost every time I hear a preacher criticize a particular phrase from an English Bible translation in preaching—even and especially those times when I caught myself doing it before I could stop myself. We preachers and Bible teachers would do better not to publicly correct the Bible translations on people’s laps. Here are three reasons why.

Sooner or later every honest Bible reader finds herself asking if certain verses belong in the Bible. These verses are – beyond a shadow of a doubt – among the very hardest verses of the Bible to accept as Christian Scripture.

At this point, you either love or hate fidget spinners — those trendy, three-sided toys you can buy at the 7/11 counter (and that may or may not be a threat to your church). But how do you feel about the theology of fidget spinners? This week, Late Show host Stephen Colbert discussed how churches around the country are using the toy as a way to explain the idea of the trinity.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” These words are the John 3:16 of American cultural Christianity. Naturally, this love for this verse has often led to more theologically-oriented Christians lamenting the out-of-context use of Jeremiah 29:11. So much so that a young Christian asked me recently, “Does Jeremiah 29:11 apply to me, or not?”

Why did God create? Certainly not because He needed someone to love. Throughout all eternity past, God enjoyed perfect love and intimate communion within His own being. The three persons of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit—enjoyed perfect relationships and completely fulfilled one another. Thus, God was not inwardly lonely or personally empty; He was entirely self-satisfied, self-content, and self-contained. So God did not create because of some limitation within Himself.