Cornelius Van Til Over the course of five years of study I have read a lot of books. Some I remember, some I don’t, but very few books have forced me to make a paradigmatic shift in my thinking. The writings of Dutch Calvinist, Cornelius Van Til, however, manage that trick amply. Van Til was professor of Apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary and revolutionized his field. Van Til’s idea is remarkably simple, but commonly misunderstood. Van Til’s suggestion was that human experience, rationality, intelligibility and meaning is only possible if Christian Theism is true. In other words, the truth of Christian Theism is the necessary condition for the possibility of human experience. James Anderson, who teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary and…
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Memory #3: America
When Billy Graham visited post war Britain in 1947, he wrote home with a request for prayer. Britain, darkened by war and moral decline, needed to hear the gospel. In his twilight years Billy Graham repeats his request, this time for America: “Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone—except God. Yet the farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control. My heart aches for America and its deceived people. The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was the lone world superpower—wealthy, unconcerned, and self-centered. When the Prophet Jonah finally traveled to Nineveh…
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Memory #2: The Greatest School on the Face of the Earth
From left: Glen Kaiser, Roy Crowne, Wendy Kaiser and me at JPUSA in 1995. It is not that I have always thought that Moody Bible Institute is the greatest school on the face of the earth. Quite the contrary. In 1995 my good friend, Roy Crowne, and I visited Chicago to spend some time with evangelist Luis Palau during his “Say Yes Chicago” campaign. We stayed at Friendly Towers, the home of Jesus People USA (JPUSA), and visited a number of ministries in the city. One such ministry was Moody Bible Institute. I was not a fan. As we were leaving, I told Roy that I would not go to…
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Memory #1: Fat
Since I am about to go back to work, move states and start a new life, I thought I might write a little about what the past five years have been like. I being with the subject of fat. My own and how I lost some. In 2007 I weighed approximately 270 lbs. Chunky? Yes, but I wore it well. However, during my first term at Moody Bible Institute I was forced (I should say required by my degree program) to perform an unsightly task – running. I ran one and a half miles in fifteen and a half minutes. Packing a few extra pounds in 2007 During “Lifetime Fitness”…