A Word from the Ancients on Advent
Stephen Venable
The ancients called the birth of Christ, “Love’s noon in Nature’s night.” In the early centuries of the Church, the birth of Christ was remembered throughout the whole month of January with celebratory feasting. Only in February, with view to Lent approaching, were the festal gatherings disbanded. “Throughout January, holly and ivy decked the halls, […]
Christmas for the Whole Year
Stephen Venable
I do not travel to speak very often, but when I do I usually face the daunting challenge of deciding what to focus the message on. When you only have two or three sessions with a group of people who you may not ever have contact with again, there is a pressure to choose something […]
Sound Doctrine: Paul or Jesus?
Stephen Venable
For a matchless example of moral perfection and love, surely no one compares to the life of Jesus. Conformity to Him is the goal of our sanctification (Gal. 4:9; 1 Jn. 2:6). Yet what of the doctrine of the Christian life? Do we also look to the gracious words falling from the lips of the […]
Spurgeon on the Second Coming
Stephen Venable
This is a fantastic piece from Charles Spurgeon that my beautiful wife read to me this morning. Oh to love His appearing (2 Tim 4:8) and be found blameless on His Day! “But who may abide the day of his coming?” — Malachi 3:2 “His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, […]
The Future and the Present
Stephen Venable
Our perspective on the future defines, in large part, our perspective on the present. This principle plays out on hundreds of different levels every single day as we relate to the world around us. We believe a report that the weather will soon turn chilly so we pull out warmer clothes from the closet. The […]
The Bible Is Not Changing
Stephen Venable
There is a point at which being sensitive to cultural norms in how things are communicated becomes giving in to cultural ills in how things are communicated. When that happens, truth suffers enormously. I don’t know where that point is, and I don’t know who has reached it and who hasn’t. I do know that […]
Aiming our Hope
Stephen Venable
For those who have been watching, and even for those like me who haven’t been, events this week in the political arena have caused the subject of abortion to take center stage in national rhetoric. I am always extremely reticent to “say” anything about politics because I don’t want to add to the undo attention […]
Finding Jesus in Ministry and Mission
Stephen Venable
This was a series of intentionally open-ended questions I recently posed to a group of students in the ACTS school about the importance of the knowledge of Jesus. My goal was simply to cause them to reflect on the subject of His supremacy in their own Christian experience, and how that can shape their missionary […]
Theology and Missions
Stephen Venable
My curious 5 year old had left his toy globe in the dining room. It caught my eye as I sat slumped beside the table watching my 10 month-old use his two teeth to conquer a tray of blueberries. I straightened up and spun it to where the Middle East was in view. My eyes […]
Jesus and the year 1776
Stephen Venable
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, […]
Doctrine Institutionalized
Stephen Venable
Part of the difficulty with the landscape of theological studies in the Western World is the way that doctrinal positions have become institutionalized. Ideas and beliefs have become irreversibly intertwined with money, buildings, and reputation. Seminaries have aligned themselves with a particular tradition, which then determines which scholars they will hire to be on their […]
We Do What We Believe
Stephen Venable
Fasting, reading, praying, studying, giving, singing, meditating…all of these biblical “doings” are necessary paths of transformation in our lives. I look at all those words and feel the desire to practice each one more. There are some in our day, as in times past, who strangely contest the value of such disciplines. Yet for most […]
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