Perhaps your conviction for your 2024 resolutions is already diminishing. It happens every year, doesn’t it. We mean well, but by January 10th, we are usually right back where we were. In 1722 when he was only 19, Jonathan Edwards made 70 resolutions that still receive a great deal of attention. Edwards was later appointed … Continue reading Resolved for God’s Glory
Author: Donnie L. DeBord
Christ: the Center of Life
Despite humanity’s cosmic treason and divine curse, God promised the Savior. The seed of woman would crush the Serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). Humanity hoped for and searched for their coming Savior. “As Eve did at the birth of Cain (Gen. 4:1), so Lamech saw in Noah a man whom the Lord had given him and … Continue reading Christ: the Center of Life
Participate In God?
I remember when Super Mario first came out. Nintendo had this great game design which so many almost immediately loved to play. But Mario didn’t have his own existence. Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool only “existed” because they were designed by Nintendo and actualized by electricity in my living room. Apart from higher beings, there … Continue reading Participate In God?
God Shapes Without Being Shaped
God is the first cause. We find this claim in Genesis 1:1--there was only God and then God created everything that has been created. Paul said, "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created … Continue reading God Shapes Without Being Shaped
There is One God and God is One
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4). Stephen Charnock wrote, “Where there is the greatest unity, there must be greatest simplicity; but God is one. As he is free from any change, so he is void of any multitude.”[1] Being pure spirit (Jn. 4:24), God is not … Continue reading There is One God and God is One
Blessed Trinity
Blessedness requires “(1) the absence of all evil, (2) the possession and presence of all good in the highest good, and also (3) the enjoyment of it, that is, the sense of it and a repose and joy in it.”[1] However, in God these attributes exist perfectly. Divine blessedness, according to van Mastricht, involves: the … Continue reading Blessed Trinity
Who Am I Meant to Be? Exploring Different Paths to Self-Discovery
"Who am I?” It's a question that has perplexed philosophers, poets and every introspective teenager. Our sense of identity shapes everything from our friendships to our career paths. But finding true self-understanding can be a winding road full of twists, turns and unexpected detours. Will looking inward provide the answers? Or by gazing upward to … Continue reading Who Am I Meant to Be? Exploring Different Paths to Self-Discovery
Fountain and Foundation
Fountain and Foundation As Creator, God is both the Fountain and Foundation of all things. Before and apart from time, he created and set all things in motion (Gen. 1:1). He is “most Strong, Stable and Incomprehensible, Immutable; moving all things, never new, never old, renewing all things.”[1] He is the fountain of every good … Continue reading Fountain and Foundation
From Weakness to Overflowing Strength: The Depravation of Good Meets the Overflowing of Goodness
Does this sound familiar? “Man is good; his heart is uncorrupted. The evil lies in the circumstances, in the environment, in the society in which man is born and reared. Take these circumstances away, reform society—introduce, for example, the equal distribution of goods to all men—and man will naturally be good. There will be no … Continue reading From Weakness to Overflowing Strength: The Depravation of Good Meets the Overflowing of Goodness
Did God Really Learn What Abraham Would Do?
How does God know? What does God know? These questions are uniquely difficult as we cannot possibly begin to understand how God understands apart from what God has revealed to us. The majority of Christian theologians have agreed God has perfect knowledge of all things in creation including past, present, and future. Apparent appearances of … Continue reading Did God Really Learn What Abraham Would Do?
Donnie's Dogmatics 