Evangelism: Start the Conversation

3/14/2012 | By Will Brannon

Before you share the gospel, you need someone to share the gospel with. If you are going to tell someone about Jesus, you have to be talking to them. So, how do you do this? More importantly, how do you transition to the gospel? In John 4, Jesus has an interesting conversation with an outcast woman about water. He begins in the natural (v. 7), and transitions into the spiritual (v. 10). So, when I share the gospel I try to follow his example and swing from the natural to the spiritual. Read More . . .

Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll

2/4/2012 | By Will Brannon

Anyone who is vaguely familiar with Mark Driscoll knows his teaching on sex is controversial and frequent. So, when he writes a book with his wife about marriage, and the subtitle is "The truth about sex, marriage, and life together" you can be pretty confident that it will be controversial. And controversial it is. I read the book, and attempt to bring a fair review that acknowledges the books positives, and unwaveringly critiques its flaws. I am not out to bash Driscoll, or praise him. Instead, I want to offer a balanced review of Real Marriage and its content. Read More . . .

Four Keys to Effective Exegesis

1/22/2012 | By Will Brannon

Currently in Greek class, we are covering the basics of exegesis and textual criticism. This past week in class, the professor did a lecture on four important aspects of biblical exegesis. These four point are taken from Bock and Fanning's book Interpreting the New Testament Text: 1) The authors original meaning, 2) The text's original language, 3) Sound hermeneutics, and 4) Modern application. Read More . . .

Thoughts on T.D. Jakes' Invitation to the Elephant Room 2

1/14/2012 | By Will Brannon

Back to the Elephant Room. So, basically what we have are Trinitarians debating with a Modalist in a public forum. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Early on, I would have said no. Orthodox believers refuting unorthodox doctrine in a public forum is a great thing. Jesus did it, and so did Paul. But is that what ER2 is all about? Is this a debate among opposing wordlviews? Or a debate among "brothers" who have different perspectives on secondary issues? Read More . . .

T.D. Jakes and the Elephant Room

1/13/2012 | By Will Brannon

January 25, 2012 marks the Elephant Room 2—an event that has became Ground Zero for a pretty heated evangelical debate. Why? Because this year, James MacDonald (the master planner behind the Elephant Room conferences) has thrown a curve ball to the evangelical community by inviting T.D. Jakes to the event. Why is that a problem? Because, setting aside the issues with his word of faith and prosperity preaching, he is a Modalist. Read More . . .

Lessons From Lot

1/9/2012 | By Will Brannon

In Genesis 13, Scripture records Abraham (then Abram) talking to Lot about land. Abram’s herdsmen were having troubles with Lot’s (v. 7), so Abram proposed that he and Lot go in opposite directions to avoid conflict. Lot sees how fertile the valley of Jordan is, and chooses to settle down there. But as he settles, he ignores the fact that he will live near Sodom, a land that verse 13 tells us is filled with people who are, “wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.” In other words, Lot was willing to live in the vicinity of blatant sin in order to have farmable land. Read More . . .