Jesus is Alive!: A Children’s Learning Activity for Acts 2

I am quite thankful to be back to teaching children's Sunday school for second graders at my church. This year, we're teaching from the book of Acts, and I recently taught the story of Pentecost out of Acts 2. One resource that was made available to us teachers at my church suggested teaching children how …

You Will Be Like ‘Gods’?: Genesis 3:5 and Mormonism (re-post)

The following post originally appeared on Things Above Us in October 2019. A good friend in the ministry recently raised a question she was asked by someone else concerning Genesis 3:5 in the context of a conversation with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and it's a very good one. In this …

The Need for Justification (book excerpt)

Back in 2013, there arose a drunk driving case here in Texas which made national headlines not so much because of its severity but because of its legal defense and sentencing. Ethan Couch, aged 16 at the time, stole two cases of beer from a Walmart, drove his dad’s Ford F-350 pickup truck at 70-mph …

Forty More Days: An Open Letter to My Neighbors about COVID-19

I'm no expert on infectious diseases, and I actually did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I have no medical qualifications to tell you what is going to happen in the next forty days here in 2020 in terms of COVID-19. Most of you reading this also have no idea. But let's …

You Will Be Like ‘Gods’?: Genesis 3:5 and Mormonism

A good friend in the ministry recently raised a question she was asked by someone else concerning Genesis 3:5 in the context of a conversation with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and it's a very good one. In this article, I'll answer the question with a moderate level of …

The Active Obedience of Christ (book excerpt)

I've given up on a particular timeline for finishing my evangelistic book. The manuscript word count is now at 29,183. My plan is to release more excerpts as time passes so that I'm able to combine my effort on the book and here at Things Above Us. Here's a chapter portion I just wrote. As …

The Authority of Scripture (book excerpt)

Work continues on my evangelistic book. While you wait, here's another sample chapter as it currently stands. I'd love to get your feedback. All biblical translations here are my own. —GPO Since you’re this far in the book, why should you listen to me? Sure, I do have a four-year seminary degree, so I do …

Tossed by the Waves, Part 2 — Returning to Creation in Six Literal Days

In part 1, I gave a short version of my Christian testimony and how that tied into my beliefs about creation. While I remained steadfast in my belief in six literal days through high school, I began to have serious doubts in university and even embraced Darwinian evolution for a time. Here's what happened next. …

Tossed by the Waves, Part 1 — Why I Drifted from Creationism

In episode 19 of the Roundtable, Michael and I interviewed Dr. Anthony Silvestro, co-author of On the Origin of Kinds, By Means of Creator God And The Preservation of Souls in the Struggle for Eternity. A portion of the discussion mentioned how I had once drifted on my biblical creation doctrine. I'd like to take this …

Revisiting Andy Stanley’s “Unhitch” Remark

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15.11 ESV) Amidst the very negative reactions to Andy Stanley's comment last year that Christians need to "unhitch" from the Old Testament, a discussion Stanley had with Dallas Theological Seminary leadership on its Table Podcast …