Applied Theology
Just yesterday, my youngest son did something stupid. To tell the truth, his mom and dad often do stupid things, too—daily. But our job is to correct him and help him to be better than we are (which means making him prone to doing fewer stupid things). So we corrected our child. The main way... Continue Reading →
About forty years ago, my friend and I sat excitedly as the diamond needle made its way from the edge of the vinyl disc toward the center. Reliably, the turntable rotated at 33.3 RPM until the needle made its way to the grooved section with the song we most wanted to hear: “Fly Like... Continue Reading →
“In 1530, not even two decades into the Reformation, Martin Luther lamented the way that Christians viewed the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, stating that ‘people now regard the holy sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord so lightly and assume an attitude toward it as if there were nothing on earth which... Continue Reading →
How many meanings can a biblical text have? Here is a good question—and a pertinent one. In Sunday school classes from coast to coast, in small group Bible studies, in house groups and house churches, this principle question is tested week after week.Is it not quite common for a group of believers to sit around... Continue Reading →
The doctrine of eternal hell is one of the most controversial of Christian beliefs—even among professing Christians! For some, the doctrine is simply unthinkable. Thus, like a nasty family secret, the doctrine is tucked away in a mental category called “Let’s not talk about that anymore.” For others, Hell is to be explained away through... Continue Reading →
No one needs to ponder whether Christians in Palestinian territories are suffering terribly. They are. Who’s to blame? There are very strong voices in the media and in political circles who point out that Israel is the country doing all the killing. Sure, Hamas is firing hundreds of missiles into Israel, but they don’t end... Continue Reading →
Our van was nothing fancy. No one would have mistaken it for a limousine. It was plain, boxy, kind of like a Volkswagen cargo van in which someone bolted a couple of seats to the floor. Nothing about the van stood out in the bustling African streets of Addis Ababa. Like everyone else in town... Continue Reading →
Billy Joel famously confessed in song, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints The sinners are much more fun—only the good die young!” Overlooking his obvious false dichotomy between saints and fun and his full-throttled embrace of sin, we can give Joel credit for seeing something that many sinners and saints equally... Continue Reading →
Just this past weekend, my family and I hosted a World Cup party. About 25 people crowded into my living room to enjoy the epic battle in which the U.S. Men’s National team fought against the highly-touted, Ronaldo-led squad from Portugal. Yes, the last-second cross from Ronaldo to the head of Varela sent shockwaves down... Continue Reading →
The hardest part of sharing the gospel (for me) is starting the conversation. Like most Christians, I love to talk about Jesus and the truth of the Scriptures, but it is hard to get the conversation going. So, I’ve tried to identify easy “connections” between the Bible and everyday life. One of the most natural... Continue Reading →
I know a woman whose life was very hard through no fault of her own. She and her husband had 8 children together when he was murdered, leaving her a widow with very little means to survive. Family members offered to take the younger children so she could try to survive with the older ones.... Continue Reading →
I once saw a Facebook status which confused me: "I'm sooooo bored," it read. I wondered--with so many great books and so much to explore--how could anyone be bored? Below is my service to any who might be tempted to boredom. Here is a list of some helpful and Biblically sound literature. I compiled this... Continue Reading →
Time magazine provoked evangelical paroxysms back in 2009 when the publication unveiled its list of “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now.” According to Time, New Calvinism was the number three idea at work reshaping America. (Don’t know what New Calvinism is? See here) Five years on, New Calvinism is still going strong, so strong,... Continue Reading →
Shortly after Thanksgiving a few years ago, my wife and I were in the yard with a dear, dear brother. His name before he was converted was simply “Mad Dog.” As he says, “when I was a pagan, I meant it with all my heart.” (He is just as sincere now that he is a... Continue Reading →
Psalm 2 famously states, “Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way” (2:12, NKJV). But there is more than one way to kiss the son. Luke 22 tells the story of Jesus’s arrest. Jesus was handed over to his captors by a kiss from Judas Iscariot: “Jesus said to him,... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 