Christian Living

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Political rhetoric is nothing new; it’s been around forever. But over the last few years, its intensity has skyrocketed. This causes many to struggle with anxiety, fear, frustration, anger, and hatred. It can get people so worked up that they feel compelled to take extreme, even violent, actions. As of July 18, 2024, we don’t know the motives of the man who tried to assassinate Trump. But it’s reasonable to assume that extreme rhetoric played a role in creating this horrendous event where people were injured and one man lost his life. I’m going to explain how and why political rhetoric comes about.

By Michael Agerbo Mørch, Ph.D.

Michael Agerbo Mørch, Ph.D., is a theologian who specializes in systematic theology and an Assistant Professor of philosophy of religion, ethics, and apologetics at the Danish Bible Institute. He is an elder at his local church, preaches in various congregations and associations, and participates in the public debate on religion, politics, and morality. He is married to Elisabeth, and together they have three girls.

The Danish Bible Institute (DBI) is a private educational institution in Copenhagen, Denmark. There are two universities in Denmark where people can study theology, but both of them are characterized by liberal theology and biblical criticism.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Some people dislike stories that involve appalling evil such as sexual immorality and murder. However, such stories can be powerful tools to encourage us to do what’s right and fight against our prideful, selfish desires. Often this is done by having an appealing character make an evil decision and then showing the audience how that decision destroys his life. A famous example of this is the story of David whose decisions to commit adultery with Bathsheba and murder her husband ruin his life, his family, and his kingdom.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Most Christians will struggle, at least once, with the issue of losing their salvation. For some people this struggle becomes a lifelong trial of frustration and anxiety. Some protestant denominations, including Methodists and Lutherans, teach that it is possible to lose your salvation. But other denominations, such as Presbyterians and Baptists, teach that once you become a Christian, you can never lose your salvation. So who has the final say in such matters? We should always look to God and His Word as our first and final authority. He has given us His instructions in the Bible, and we’re responsible to study it diligently so we know the truth.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Edward T. Welch earned an M.Div. degree at Biblical Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah. He serves as the director of counseling and as an academic dean at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) and professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. His work has led to several of his own books, contributions to many others, and numerous articles for both theological and secular journals.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Salvation, the reconciling of man to God, has its roots in the unconditional Promise God gave to Abraham and his seed when He told him, “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:16). It was unconditional in the sense that God promised to do this regardless of what Abraham or his descendants would do. In contrast, the Law, told to the Israelites by God through Moses and summarized in the Ten Commandments, was given 430 years later (Gal. 3:17a) as a conditional covenant.

The Israelites agreed with God to enter into this conditional covenant which, if obeyed, guaranteed blessing and security for them in the land of Canaan (Deut.

The book of Ecclesiastes is notoriously difficult to interpret. In this article I share my best attempt at understanding and explaining what this book is about. Many have argued that the main message of Ecclesiastes is that we shouldn’t look for meaning and purpose in this world or in this mortal life. While that might be a valid application of the truths found in Ecclesiastes, I don’t think that is its primary message. It seems to me that the main purpose of Ecclesiastes is to teach the following conditional: If life ends at death, then life, and the toil of this life, is vanity because it’s fleeting, futile, meaningless, and absurd.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Ancient philosophy began when people started thinking about ultimate reality. These early philosophers proposed theories about the ultimate elemental stuff which everything else comes from or is made of. Some of the early theories were earth, air, fire, or water. One ancient philosopher, Democritus, even suggested that everything is made up of tiny particles he called atoms. However, if Christianity is true, and I believe it is, then when the final curtain of reality is pulled back, we won’t find earth, air, fire, water, or atoms. Instead, we’ll find loving relationships between three divine persons. Ultimate reality, from which everything else comes, is a God which exists as a Trinity: three divine persons united in one essence and united in Their loving relationships with Each Other.

What is morally right and wrong when it comes to sex? Apart from considering Christianity or the Bible, we can establish that sex is morally good inside marriage (one man and one woman) and morally bad outside marriage. Consequences, how an action affects human flourishing, can help us know what is morally good or bad. We know that individuals as well as societies flourish when sex is kept inside marriage, but sex outside of marriage can result in emotional, relational, physical, and financial suffering, as personal experiences and sociological evidence can attest. How has our culture come to believe that sex outside of marriage is not morally wrong, that if we desire something then we should do it? It has to do with the history of Western culture from the modern to postmodern eras. Modernism hit a dead end by concluding that life had no ultimate meaning, and postmodernism reacted to this by claiming that meaning comes from within each individual. Postmodern ideas have told us that we should “follow our heart” and indulge all our inner desires. But sometimes our desires can be bad, and it is morally good to control and discipline our desires, including our sexual ones. Christianity gives us more understanding of why this is true. In Christianity, something is only good if it resembles the true love of God in the Trinity. Thus, the Bible celebrates sexual desires if they resemble the love of God and conform to His purposes. What is the evidence that the Bible celebrates sex as God designed it? Song of Songs gives us a beautiful picture of romantic, sexual love within a marriage.

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

How can I discover my purpose in the church and community? How do I discover and nurture my talents, gifts, and capabilities?

This question is near and dear to my heart. I’ve gone through this exercise many times in my life. Again, just recently God has been taking me through this terribly important question in order to determine His will for my life. Hopefully I can share with you some things He’s taught me as I’ve struggled through this question.

I’ve always told my children to, first, find out what you are good at and then, second, find out how to use those talents to help other people.