Chore charts. Report cards. Standardized tests. Athletic banquets. Kids are inundated with messages about their performance. Because performance—work and reward—is one of the basic structures of our lives, kids often grow up thinking, “I am what I am because of what I do . . . or because of what I’ve failed to do.” How […]
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PROOF: Martin Luther on Beards and Human Depravity
There’s nothing we can do to change our sinful nature. From time to time, we may have calmed our consciences by pulling the plug on a sinful habit or two. Perhaps we flushed a few pills down the toilet, vowed not to gossip so much about our coworkers, or made a New Year’s resolution to […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 3)
Did you miss Parts 1 and 2 of “Who Invented the TULIP?” Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. Where Did McAfee Find His Points in the First Place? Others have explored the origins of TULIP as far back as Cleland McAfee’s 1905 lecture. I find it highly unlikely, however, that this […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 2)
Did you miss Part 1 of “Who Invented the TULIP?” Click here to read it. Tiptoeing through (the History of) the TULIP The earliest name clearly connected to the TULIP seems to be Cleland Boyd McAfee. Born in Missouri in 1866, McAfee became a prominent leader in the Presbyterian Church. He moved to Union Theological […]
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PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 1)
Chances are, if you’ve ever heard of the “five points of Calvinism,” you heard them first in the form of a flower—a tulip, to be exact. If your earliest awareness of these points was anything like mine, it began with the fallenness of humanity and ended with the security of the believer, with the most […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Win Free CD and MP3 of PROOF!
On August 1, 2014, I will be giving away three free, signed recordings of PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace unabridged on compact disc. Here’s how you can win: Anytime between now and August 1, post on Facebook or Twitter any blog article or resource found on ProofofGrace.com. Include the hashtag […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Cutting through the Confusion about What to Call “the New Calvinism” (Part 2)
For part one of this series on naming the “New Calvinism,” click here. A Trinity of “Neo’s”: Neo-Calvinist, Neo-Puritan, Neo-Reformed The relatively recent introduction of “neo-Calvinist” to describe the latest resurgence of interest in Reformation theology has muddied the semantic waters even more—but not because “neo-Calvinist” or “new Calvinist” carries too many different meanings (not […]
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PROOF: Cutting through the Confusion about What to Call “the New Calvinism” (Part 1)
The mention of Calvinism may provoke revulsion or comfort—but it rarely produces apathy. “Calvinism,” journalist H.L. Mencken opined in 1937, “occupies a place in my cabinet of private horrors but little removed from that of cannibalism.” Mencken included these words in his obituary for J. Gresham Machen, a Presbyterian theologian who whispered on his deathbed, […]
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PROOF: PROOF and Union with Christ
By Garrick Bailey The New Testament provides extensive witness to the oneness between Christ and Christians. According to Paul, this oneness, through the Holy Spirit, is the foundation for the unity of the church (Eph 4:1-6). Historically, this concept of oneness found predominantly in the writings of the apostles John and Paul has been called […]
[Read More...]PROOF: A Quick Overview of a New Acronym
PROOF: Planned Grace and the Sovereignty of God
By Wyatt Graham R. K. McGregor wrote No Place for Sovereignty in 1996, launching a detailed critique of Freewill Theism. In place of Freewill Theism, Wright proposes a reformed model of God’s sovereignty over human freedom. Following the long tradition of Reformed Theology, Wright holds to a theology of God’s sovereignty derived from Scripture and […]
[Read More...]PROOF: An Interview with Justin Taylor
Justin Taylor, senior vice president and publisher for books at Crossway and blogger for The Gospel Coalition, recently had a conversation with PROOF authors Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones about grace, Calvinism, and the purpose of PROOF. You open the book by talking about how we live in a delusion from which we need […]
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PROOF: #24HoursUntilPROOF Winners
The winners of today’s contest were Mark Kuykendall and Bill Haynes! Both of them will be receiving free, signed copies of PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace. There will be one last giveaway tomorrow, on the day the book is released, so keep on posting!
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PROOF: What Is Forever Grace? #24HoursUntilPROOF
“Forever grace”? You mean, once you’re saved, you can never lose your salvation? And so, if someone says they’ve trusted Jesus and then spends their life in love with sin, they’re still Christians, right? Maybe you’ve heard that line of reasoning at some point in your life. So have we–but such thinking isn’t even close […]
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PROOF: Win a Free Signed Copy of PROOF Today #24HoursUntilPROOF
If you’re interested in winning a free copy of PROOF today, post the message below on Facebook, Twitter, or both: Perseverance doesn’t mean we work for salvation; it means we work out what God already guaranteed. #24HoursUntilPROOF tiny.cc/PRF Tonight, my children will randomly choose one winner from Facebook and one winner from Twitter. If you’re […]
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PROOF: #2DaysUntilPROOF Winners
The winners of today’s contest were Tim Hawkins and Kenneth Bruce! Both of them will be receiving free, signed copies of PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace.
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PROOF: Does Overcoming Grace Mean We Don’t Have Free Will? #2DaysUntilPROOF
There’s a roughness along the edges of the Reformed doctrines of grace—a difficult dilemma that may have crossed your mind at some point. People usually express the concern in statements that run something like this: “I just can’t believe that God would drag people into heaven against their will, kicking and screaming!” Such reactions reveal […]
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PROOF: Win a Free Signed Copy of PROOF Today #2DaysUntilPROOF
If you’re interested in winning a free copy of PROOF today, post the message below on Facebook, Twitter, or both: God’s overcoming grace isn’t merely his pardon for sin; it’s his power at work in my powerless life. #2DaysUntilPROOF http://tiny.cc/PRF Tonight, my children will randomly choose one winner from Facebook and one winner from Twitter. […]
[Read More...]PROOF: A Short Review of PROOF #3DaysUntilProof
The following is a review of PROOF found in the May 2014 issue Towers Magazine, the campus newspaper for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. A couple of years ago, violinist Joshua Bell showed up at a metro station in Washington, D.C., took out his violin and started to play. The casually dressed violinist played as hundreds of people walked […]
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PROOF: What’s the Point of Predestination? #3DaysUntilPROOF
“It was pretty ornery preaching,” Huckleberry Finn mused when he found himself in church one particular Sunday morning, “and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination, and I don’t know what all, that it did seem to me to be one of the roughest Sundays […]
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