What does it mean to “fear” God?
In biblical terms, the word “fear” does not usually focus on feelings of terror or fright. “Fear” is a motivating emotion. We use “fear” to determine what we will do in any given situation.
How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?
How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? First, we can examine what the Bible claims about itself.
Continue Reading How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?
Why bother with Jesus when I’ve got it made?
Professor Ken Elzinga answers the question: If your life is going great, why should you bother with Jesus?
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What is Theology?
“One is sometimes (not often) glad not to be a great theologian; one might so easily mistake it for being a good Christian.” – C.S. Lewis
Ken Elzinga welcomes UVA parents
It has become a tradition for Professor Ken Elzinga give a welcome address to new University of Virginia students and their parents during Move-In Day Lunches at the Center for Christian Study. Here is 2020 his message to parents of incoming students.
Ken Elzinga welcomes UVA students
It has become a tradition for Professor Ken Elzinga give a welcome address to new University of Virginia students and their parents during Move-In Day Lunches at the Center for Christian Study. Here is 2020 his message to incoming students.
What church positions are open to women?
This table shows the spectrum of church leadership roles available to women under the egalitarian and hard/soft complementarian views. Individual churches may vary in their practice.
What is a soft complementarian?
The views regarding women in authority in the church can be generalized into 3 basic positions: hard complementarian (most restrictive), soft complementarian (less restrictive), and egalitarian (least restrictive). This is a summary of the soft complementarian position.
What is a hard complementarian?
The views regarding women in authority in the church can be generalized into 3 basic positions: hard complementarian (most restrictive), soft complementarian (less restrictive), and egalitarian (least restrictive). This is a summary of the hard complementarian position.
What is an egalitarian?
The views regarding women in authority in the church can be generalized into 3 basic positions: hard complementarian (most restrictive), soft complementarian (less restrictive), and egalitarian (least restrictive). This is a summary of the egalitarian position.
Read through the Psalms in 30 days
Reading through the psalms can change your life! Here’s a plan to read through the psalms in 30 days.
Heaven and those who have gone before us
The prevailing belief of the world is that “You go around once and then you die.” Yet, the remarkable claim of the Christian faith is that those who have died are more alive today than they were before their deaths. “If I die and go to heaven, what is it going to be like?” “Someone close to me died, where do I turn for comfort?” “If I die, will I go to a better place?” Professor Ken Elzinga answers these questions.
Pearls of Wisdom: on dreams
About this series: Many years ago, we asked the matriarchs in our church to share “pearls of wisdom” they learned over the course of their walk with the Lord. We collected their stories in a booklet which we distributed through the women’s ministries. My copy of the booklet is now tattered and faded, and many of the women quoted are home with the Lord. To keep their words alive and honor their wisdom, I am sharing their pearls here before my booklet turns to dust. I hope these words inspire you to share a cup of tea with an older woman in your church and listen to her pearls of wisdom.
Pearls of Wisdom: on loss
Many years ago, we asked the matriarchs in our church to share “pearls of wisdom” they learned over the course of their walk with the Lord. We collected their stories in a booklet which we distributed through the women’s ministries. My copy of the booklet is now tattered and faded, and many of the women quoted are home with the Lord. To keep their words alive and honor their wisdom, I am sharing their pearls here before my booklet turns to dust. I hope these words inspire you to share a cup of tea with an older woman in your church and listen to her pearls of wisdom.
Pearls of Wisdom: on parenting
Many years ago, we asked the matriarchs in our church to share “pearls of wisdom” they learned over the course of their walk with the Lord. We collected their stories in a booklet which we distributed through the women’s ministries. My copy of the booklet is now tattered and faded, and many of the women quoted are home with the Lord. To keep their words alive and honor their wisdom, I am sharing their pearls here before my booklet turns to dust. I hope these words inspire you to share a cup of tea with an older woman in your church and listen to her pearls of wisdom.
Pearls of Wisdom: from our mothers
Many years ago, we asked the matriarchs in our church to share “pearls of wisdom” they learned over the course of their walk with the Lord. We collected their stories in a booklet which we distributed through the women’s ministries. My copy of the booklet is now tattered and faded, and many of the women quoted are home with the Lord. To keep their words alive and honor their wisdom, I am sharing their pearls here before my booklet turns to dust. I hope these words inspire you to share a cup of tea with an older woman in your church and listen to her pearls of wisdom.
Read through the Bible
Have you decided to read through the Bible as one of your New Year’s Resolutions? Here’s a great selection of plans to help you keep that resolution.
Have a Mary Christmas Luke 10:38-42
This December you can have a Mary Christmas or a Martha Christmas. In a Martha Christmas you are so frantic doing good things that you miss the best gift of all. In a Mary Christmas you recognize what is truly important and find the best gift of all.
The Christmas Redeemer
There’s nothing like the Christmas season to force you to face the fact that life is often neither joyful nor triumphant. What is there to celebrate about Christmas? We’ll answer that question by looking at one of my favorite Christmas stories: Job.
How to take the bite out of gift-giving
As the oldest woman in the family tree, the success of Christmas settled on my shoulders like a straight jacket. How can any thing that can fits under a Christmas tree transform the life of the recipient from misery to joy?
The Lord’s Prayer: we say it but what does it mean?
The more I study the Lord’s Prayer, the more I conclude the prayer asks for one and only one thing: that God would make us completely righteous once and for all.
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Elzinga’s 4 Keys to Success in College
Headed to college? Wondering how to survive the experience? Here is advice from an expert.
Spiritual Formation: a critical look
The theology of Spiritual Formation sounds great on paper, but it is focused on the wrong target, seeks the wrong kind of change and misses the mark on how disciplines work.
Prayer and Spiritual Formation: How does it work?
The biblical picture of prayer is not that it is a spiritual discipline that I use to reach a higher spiritual level. Rather prayer is an unavoidable mandatory battlefield in the war of faith.
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Does Spiritual Formation seek the right kind of change?
Not only does the theology of spiritual formation aim at the wrong target, spiritual formation seeks the wrong kind of change. While spiritual disciplines focus on success at outward righteous behavior, the Bible teaches that the goal of spiritual maturity is a strong unshakeable faith.
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Breaking the Huddle Syndrome
In modern American culture growing older seems to mean becoming invisible; unfortunately this trend is also infecting the church. Relegating older women to the nostalgia-bin is a symptom of “The Huddle Syndrome.” Fortunately, the Huddle Syndrome is easy to break.
What is worship?
If you think that worship equals singing, A Taste of Heaven: Worship in the Light of Eternity by RC Sproul is a must-read book for you.
You won’t always be pretty
I remember clearly the day I became invisible. Walking through the mail with my teenagers, all the females were noticing my son and and the males were noticing my daughter.
Dealing with Loss: Lessons from Haggai
Recently, my life has been marked by loss. Like the Beatles, how I long for yesterday! The last place I expected to find comfort was in the Old Testament Book of Haggai — yet I did.
The Boy Jesus in the Temple and what that teaches us about Bible Study
How could a 12-year old astonish the best theologians of his day? Why was the knowledge of Jesus radically different than everyone else?
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Sin and academic perfection
All through my academic career I rubbed shoulders with people smarter than I. The standard was always higher than I could reach, no matter how I hard I tried. Holiness is like that.
Loving someone with cancer
In an 11 month period, my mother died of breast cancer and both my mother-in-law and her mother died of lung cancer. Here’s what I learned about how to love, help and support someone living with cancer and their caretaker.
Drawing the Doctrinal Line
Which of our many doctrinal differences should Christians worry about? After all, one person’s heresy is another person’s minor difference of opinion.
What if I failed my Bible reading plan?
Approximately one-third of those who started a Bible reading plan in January abandon it by February. By May that number will drop to half. What if you are one of the statistics?
The Dividing Line
The Apostle Paul divides humanity by one thing: those who belong to God and those who don’t. It is the only distinction that matters.
Why I reject Emergent Theology
Emergent Theology claims theological certainty is an idol, but Paul claims the authority to speak on behalf of God.
An exceptionally good Christmas
Alone and cold in a German prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “I think we are going to have an exceptionally good Christmas.” As I sit in warmth and comfort, I wonder at his words.
