Republished from Voice, Jan/Feb 2020.

John Fea noted two decades ago that “the term fundamentalism has become the most elusive term on the American religious scene.”¹ Today a fundamentalist is often viewed as anyone who holds to a strict religious system.² The task I have been given here is to note the attempted “hijacking” of the designation “fundamentalist.” While I can, in the main, appreciate the faithful heritage of historic fundamentalism, at the same time I also reject the extremism that can often be found in too much of what I term Movement Fundamentalism. ...

As of January 2020, SharperIron is fifteen years old. I’ve been involved to some degree for about fourteen of those years, and “in charge” for about a dozen. It’s time—maybe well past time—to seriously explore big changes for SI.

Hence, this Request for Proposals (RFP)—specifically, proposals for taking the site off my hands and into a new future.

Why now?

SharperIron has always needed more time than I could give it and more expertise than I possessed. True, “needed” is a relative term. My time and skills have been what the site “needed” to keep going and arrive at what it is today. But I’ve always seen SI with a kind of Island of Unrealized Potential on the horizon that I could sometimes steer it a little bit toward, but could never really reach.

...

I have been thinking for a while that it might be a good idea to write about the New Covenant. Although there seems to be little confusion about it in the minds of Jeremiah, Paul, or the author of Hebrews, it has become something of a bugbear among Dispensationalists. In this series I want to interact a little with their issues, but I also want to provide my understanding of the New Covenant, which, as it happens, adds one more alternative to the dizzying list already occupying the thought of many good men and women.

Introduction

The New Covenant has given Dispensationalists all kinds of headaches. Taken as a generality, they seem unable to come to a consensus about this extremely important teaching of the Bible. In a helpful way,...

This past Saturday, our church did a public evangelism event at our local library. The West Coast is deservedly considered one of the more leftist areas in the United States. The Governor of Washington State recently ended an unsuccessful presidential run in which his platform consisted of climate change alarmism. Paper straws are mandated in Seattle. The homelessness crisis in urban centers along the I-5 corridor grows ever worse. Marijuana is legal. The sexual revolution is in full swing.

Olympia, WA (the state capitol) is one of the more secular areas in a very secular region. It’s a small city; not much more than 50,000 people. Together with Lacey and Tumwater, it forms a modest metro area.

My experience is that, in the Midwest, your church can grow (albeit slowly) if...

God uses even sin to develop us as Christians. That may sound like a bold statement, especially because God never wants us to sin (1 John 2:1); we should always seek to avoid it and not take it lightly.

God created Adam and Eve knowing they would sin. Their sin—which cast the entire human race into sin and resulted in a cursed universe—was nonetheless used by God to work a greater good. Because mankind was plunged into a lost condition, God would send His Son to redeem the world. Perhaps nothing brings glory to God like the atoning death, burial, and conquering resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ—the gospel message. Believers find themselves in a better position than Adam and Eve ever were!

There is a vast difference between God desiring sin and God...

Read the series.

In our previous installment, we saw that human culture and technology are a necessary part of the creation mandate and as such should not be viewed as necessary or intrinsic evils. Moreover, we argued that religion is part of human culture, and it will, therefore, employ some of the tools of culture. But before we suggest some ways in which we can use modern technologies to advance the Great Commission, I’d like briefly to highlight the tension that exists between the benefits, tradeoffs, and dangers of technology. We’ve noted that human technology brings with it certain benefits or, to use a biblical term, “blessings.” Nevertheless, over and...

What is courage? According to the dictionaries courage, or bravery, is the ability to something which frightens one. It is the mental and moral willingness to act on one’s beliefs despite danger, difficulty or disapproval.

It’s important to note individuals who act bravely or exhibit courage aren’t necessarily moral or virtuous. Definitions of morality and virtuousness are subjective and often fluid. These traits are subject to change by the “spirit of the age” and cultural-diversity trends.

A footballer lauded for courageous on-field exploits will lose honor if it emerges that he is a serial rapist. The 9/11 terrorists would have drawn on courage based upon their convictions to fly the planes into the Towers. They were lauded by their Islamic sympathizers. Likewise,...

Reformed Baptists are drawn to the London Baptist Confession of 1689 (originally issued in 1677) because it so closely mirrored the popular Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith. But the first two London Baptist confessions of 1644/1646 offer a window into history and a resource for Baptists today that is slightly different in its emphases. The London Baptist Confession of 1646 is Reformed and Baptist in its theology while emphasizing the newness of the New Covenant era that began with Christ. This article explores some of the benefits and challenges of using the London Baptist Confession of 1646 in the local church today.

Appealing Qualities

There are three appealing qualities of this Confession that are worthy of highlighting.

The Confession was...