It’s politically correct to celebrate Jesus as a holy man and enlightened figure, even among unbelievers. Social activists look to his example as support for struggle against oppression and injustice, and to his healings and mercy as a call to help those who are sick and poor. Even other religions sometimes accommodate him; he is considered a prophet in Islam and an avat...

"Even if Christ had not been raised, our sins would still be forgiven when Christ died on the cross." I have now heard this statement numerous times and once again at a church I visited this past Easter Sunday. 1 Corinthians 15:17 says, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." Obviously both statements cannot be true. On...

The Jerusalem Post carried a story today of a little Israeli preschooler who, being bitten by a viper, was saved by medical intervention at a Beersheba hospital....

Last Monday, Alberta Premier Alison Redford announced an election for April 23. The parties are now in full campaign mode, with buses criss-crossing the province and politicians shaking hands and kissing babies. Already the polls are predicting a tight race between the governing Tories and the upstart Wildrose Alliance, and so the names and political accusations are alread...

In a city of oil-bucks and big trucks, the idea of church may seem irrelevant. But the claims of Jesus Christ remain, and his church continues to be built, even here in Cowtown. Other people might think Calgary is the buckle on the Bible Belt, but they would be wrong. Calgary is in desperate need of the gospel as fewer churches hold forth the good news of Jesus’ death an...

We are commanded to love the Lord with all our mind (Matthew 22:37), and so the cultivation of our knowledge and understanding is a critical part of our discipleship. Now, it certainly can’t constitute all or even most of our walk with God; after all, we are warned in the Scriptures that “knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). But while the pursuit of knowledge by ...

Establishing and maintaining structure in a local church takes a ton of work, especially when, as with Calvary Grace, a church has started without any denominational or mother-church support. And we as elders are keenly aware that our efforts to establish and maintain structure in our church have not kept up with the growth of our fellowship, and that’s not good. ...

New Testament scholar Dan Wallace touched off quite the buzz a few days back when he mentioned in passing, while debating Bart Ehrman, that among a set of new manuscript discoveries was found a small fragment of the Gospel of Mark. He went on to point out that “[i]t was dated by one of the world’s leading paleographers. He said he was ‘certain’ that it was from ...

Human nature being what it is, we are all too prone to push good things past the point where they are useful. So we need to guard against the temptation to think that we can 'figure it all out.' Moreover, we need to resist the idea that 'figuring it all out' would be a good thing....

In the afterglow of a weekend conference you can almost bank on the intense feelings to start wearing off by about Wednesday if not earlier. If a conference is a good one, it can seem a bit disappointing to let its benefits slip through your fingers like so much water. And most of the time, we content ourselves to feel disappointed with the quick loss, rather than actually...