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Imago Dei

In Blog, Common Questions, Theology on
September 13, 2021

What is God’s Will for My Life?

Discerning the will of God is something I think every Christian has attempted to do at one point or another. It’s definitely something I’ve prayed for and longed for and tried to figure out. I’ve often asked that God would reveal His will to me about different decisions or situations, but most of the time I never get a clear, solid answer. Honestly, I sometimes wish I could be like Gideon and put out a fleece to get some answers from God (please, do not do this the next time you need to make a decision).

God’s will can be a tricky thing to understand. We’re told that nothing happens outside of God’s will. But does that mean it’s God will for a family member to be diagnosed with cancer? Is it God’s will for a friend to get in a serious car accident? Is it God’s will for a child to tragically die at a young age? And how are we to understand His will well enough to make decisions that won’t fall outside of it?

All these questions stem from a misunderstanding of God’s will. There are actually three aspects of the will of God: His sovereign will, His moral will, and His personal will.

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In Attributes of God, Blog, Theology on
August 2, 2021

He is Righteous

Nobody likes a self-righteous person. Nobody likes those people who always think they’re better than everybody else. Nobody likes those people who always try to one-up others. But, if you think about it, you’ve probably acted in a self-righteous way at some point in your life. There’s probably been a time when you’ve believed you were better, smarter, or stronger compared to someone else, whether you verbalized that thought or not. There’s likely been an instance where you did something to one-up another person. We don’t like self-righteous people (and the self-righteous side of ourselves!) because we know that nobody is altogether righteous and nobody is really more righteous than somebody else. Everybody sins! There’s only one Person who truly is more righteous than anybody else, but He never puts us down because of it-

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In Blog, Common Questions, Theology on
May 24, 2021

Is Everyone a Child of God?

Christian music artist Tauren Wells released a song called “All God’s Children” this past December. It’s a beautiful song that brings awareness to the human trafficking that is happening all around the globe and reminds us that no person, and especially no child, deserves this kind of treatment. Every person is created in God’s image and worthy of love and freedom. The song goes,

“We are all God’s children, made in His image. Perfectly loved, worthy of freedom. All God’s children, made in His image. Perfectly loved, worthy of freedom. Held and treasured every soul together. All God’s children, made in His image. Perfectly loved, worthy of freedom.”[1]

“All God’s Children” really is a great song with a great message. But is it actually biblically and theologically accurate? You may be thinking, “Well, of course it is!” After all, loving people who are created in the image of God is something we are commanded to do in Scripture (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Galatians 5:14). But is everyone a child of God?

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In Blog, Theology, Worldview on
March 1, 2021

A Christian Worldview

I got glasses for the first time three years ago. Growing up, I had great vision and never had any need for glasses. But in high school, I started noticing that it was getting more and more difficult for me to see things like information written on classroom whiteboards, sermon notes on the screen at church, and street signs when I was driving. I went to an optometrist, and sure enough, I needed glasses. When I put on my first pair of glasses, everything was so clear and bright, and it was almost like I was seeing a whole new world.

A person’s worldview is a lot like a pair of glasses. One’s worldview is the lens through which they view the world. Just like different eyeglasses prescriptions or sunglasses tints will alter how you see the world around you, different worldviews will alter what you believe about the world. Whether they realize or not, everyone has a worldview. Everyone, even those who claim to be non-religious, holds a set of beliefs that determine how they see the world. And every person’s worldview answers seven key questions about the world – the question of origins, the question of identity, the question of purpose, the question of morality, the question of the problem, the question of the solution, and the question of destiny.

It is important for believers to hold a Christian worldview, to answer these questions in a way that agrees with Scripture and glorifies God. If we don’t, we can easily fall into belief systems that are sinful and worldly and built on lies. Therefore, we must search the Word of God to figure out what a Christian worldview looks like and how it answers these seven key questions.

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Justice on
February 22, 2021

Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth

This past year we’ve heard a lot about social justice, the importance of it, and why it is necessary to fix the injustices happening in our nation. There is no doubt that there are numerous injustices that occur on a daily basis. We live in a fallen world full of sinful beings. As Christians, we are called to do justice (Micah 6:8). We are called to help orphans and widows (James 1:27), feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and clothe the naked (Matthew 25:35-40).

However, a lot of the solutions to injustices being presented by our culture are rooted in humanistic ideologies rather than biblical truth. They seem to value perceived experiences over facts, and they divide everyone into social groups rather than treating everyone equally as image-bearers of God. Also, these “solutions” often end up doing more harm than good. These social justice ideologies are beginning to seep into churches and Christian writings all across the country and the world, but we must take a step back and analyze these ideas to determine if they really line up with what the Bible teaches. And this is exactly what Thaddeus Williams writes about in his book, Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth.

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