ryan.the.calvinist

While things have been fairly quiet on the blog here, thoughts have been racing through my head of late. Particularly, thoughts relating to the New Covenant ... what is is... what the benefits are... and especially who makes it up: Is it comprised of believers only?  Or are nonbelievers included in this New Covenant as well? The Evangelical Presbyterian Church emblem. Growing up from a slightly Pentecostal and then a standard evangelical background, I grew up recognizing that the New Covenant was comprised of believers.  I have no recollection of learning anything to the contrary.  However, while investigating churches in the O'Fallon / St. Peters / St. Charles, MO area, my wife and I have spent the last month or so at Mercy Road Fellowship, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) plant near Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters.  Aside from a small Acts 29 church plant of maybe 15 people, this is by far the smallest congregation I've been involved in on any capac...

“ My toaster doesn’t have a love button! ” “No! And neither does a robot!” [1] This exchange, neither written nor uttered by C.S. Lewis, certainly represents his theology concerning the notions of God’s sovereign decree in election and of man’s autonomous will to freely choose God. Discussions concerning the freedom of the will, and by contrast divine election, are visible throughout Lewis’ writings - from his fictional works to his BBC broadcast-inspired theological Mere Christianity. In his unpublished paper To Choose or Be Chosen: C.S. Lewis’ Contribution to Free Will and Predestination , Georgian pastor John Alexander attempted “to reconcile predestination and free will through Lewis’ works and examine Lewis’ impact on modern Christianity through this reconciliation.” [2] Such “reconciliation,” however, is not necessary to understand the impacts of both Reformed Theology and C.S. Lewis’ theology on Christendom as a whole. Lewis’ relevant writings clearly point to a synerg...

This is a chart I created for my paper on C.S. Lewis, Free Will, and Predestination, comparing the 5 Points of Calvinism to the 5 Points of Arminianism.   - Arminian Position - - Calvinist Position- Human Ability The Fall has damaged human nature, but not rendered it totally disabled. Human nature is not enslaved to sin, and is more or less sick. As a result, the unrepentant sinner’s ability to either freely choose or reject Christ is unaffected by the Fall. Total Depravity The Fall has not only damaged human nature, but has rendered it completely corrupted. Human nature is enslaved to sin, and even spiritually dead – unresponsive. This deadness makes him utterly unable and unwilling to ever choose God. Conditional Election God’s choice to save the sinner is based upon his knowledge of that sinner deciding to come to him, freely at a point in the future. The sinner’s choosing God does not depend on God’s first choosing him or her. Unconditional Election Go...

I can remember my first real exposure to podcasting.  It was back in 2005 if I am remembering correctly -- for some reason I was with my brother in his van (at the time), driving.... somewhere in Florissant.  And I remembered my brother was playing his iPod over the stereo system via tape-deck adapter.  I was listening to someone talking about Dan Brown's book The DaVinci Code, which was being released as a major motion picture right around that time.  I inquired what we were listening to (I don't remember if I made it seem like I was bored in doing so - I would have rather been listening to music at the time, but I became interested the more I listened) and my brother described what I would later realize as being a podcast. Ah... podcasting.  No, your iPod (or Zune) is not JUST for listening to music on.  Personally, I have grown in the faith and in maturity QUITE A BIT due to teachings I've heard from podcasts.  Theological shows and sermons alike ha...

Titus 2:1 "But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine." I attend a university in Springfield, MO.  For those of you not in the know, Springfield, MO is smack in the Bible Belt.  We are just down the road from Southwest Baptist University... have the 2nd largest Assemblies of God church in America (James River Assembly... jokingly referred to by some locals as "Hillsong USA")... we even have the HQ of the Assemblies of God, a Protestant Pentecostal denomination.  And while this place is not like some I've seen in Northern Texas/Southern Arkansas, having a church literally on EVERY corner... it is filled with congregations galore. So then, you would think finding a church would be really simple... that all you would have to do is walk on into a church, sit down, and you've found one.  Well, that is true for finding a church.  However... finding a good church?... that takes a bit more doing. What constitutes a "GOOD CHURCH"?  One where so...

Yesterday I sat in STRONG (Hall) #204 in my REL 320: Jesus of Nazareth course a bit more than slightly frustrated with the clips our class had just watched from The Last Temptation of Christ . We were comparing this fictional re-telling of Christ's life to the gnostic Gospel of Judas . I'm not sure which notion was more difficult to stomach-- the gnostic view that YHWH is the evil creator that we need to defeat (essentially), or the notion that Jesus and Judas... cuddled... (and more?) Yuck. ANYWAY. A student in the class brought up a point that he had always struggled with growing up: If it was foreordained that Judas would have to betray Jesus, and it had to happen for Jesus to save the world, why should Judas suffer and be held to blame for his actions? I just sat there in my silence fully confidant of the answer. And yes, I too had wondered this before -- he was supposed to do this, and yet he is held to blame? But after years of maturing in the faith, I was able t...

i had this convo today w/ this guy on Facebook that randomly found me and added me as a friend on facebook. his religious views on his profile were labeled as "opti-mystic"... turns out he was the starter of a "Christian group" on myspace that allowed a Mormon to join and saw no problem w/ this... this is our conversation... Between Mike Morrell and Ryan Gill Ryan Gill Today at 5:52pm what is an opti-mystic? is that like opti-free contact lens solution? Mike Morrell Today at 5:56pm Report Message Ha! Its like someone living by means of Jesus who then gets, to quote Brennan Manning, a "serious and incurable case of the happies." So, if by opti-free you mean someone who can see clearer, and in freedom...sure! (See John 17) Ryan Gill Today at 5:57pm ewwww... brennan manning... catholic mystic... yuck. i get who jesus is... the only way. john 14:6. any other "way" leads to destruction. Mike Morrell Today at 6:02pm Report Mes...