Owen Strachan
@ostrachan
Theologian. Author, "The Warrior Savior": https://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Savior-Theology-Work-Christ/dp/1629958050
The cultural Jesus is a really, really nice guy. He doesn't do much besides cheer you on. The biblical Jesus is WAY BETTER. He is incredibly kind, astonishingly brave, and a warrior-savior who fights for his people. Order "The Warrior Savior": amazon.com/Warrior-Savior…
God loves and rewards our obedience as Christians--but steer clear of Transactional Christianity in which God owes us blessing for our actions.
It's not "hero worship" to honor faithful Christians. The godly elder deserves "double honor" (1 Tim. 5:17). Paul said this: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1) and this: "Pay to all what is owed to them...honor to whom honor is owed" (Rom. 13:7).
Good question, J. R. My view is this: the church forms men for ministry and is THE essential launchpad. That's where so much of the character training comes in. I am grateful for my years in the local church and the pastoral internship I did at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. All…
If that's true, explain seminary training. Seminary follows the same general pattern as secular university--with an emphasis on always finding some new idea. Intellectual skepticism becomes "academic scholarship" in the university setting. Professors build their creds on it.
Q: "Paul, you're an apostle--what matters most in the men who lead churches?" A: "Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not…
The New Testament focuses far more on the character of a pastor than on his intellectual accomplishments.
Regarding dispensationalism, I'm seeing a lot of hot air about this system today. So much slander, so little maturity. Here's the interesting thing: a solid seminary trains you to understand different systems of Christian thought. You think carefully; you disagree respectfully;…
Dale, this is wildly unfair. Everyone has to answer this good question by Charles, and many related queries as well. For example, do we pray the imprecatory Psalms as believers? Is that confined to the old covenant? Has Jesus rewired them by asking the Father to forgive his…
This album by Sandra McCracken and the uber-talented Ben Shive is STUNNINGLY good. "The Still Point, Volume II." Comforting. Thoughtful. Sad. Hopeful. I love it when Christians create beautiful things for God's glory.
One week later, and I feel the loss of John MacArthur keenly. This isn't because I spent lots of time with him; it is because he was a man of great presence and influence. It is strange to live in an evangelical world without him.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. --Proverbs 15:1
Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. --Esther 4:16
The evangelical church needs a *big push* to develop our ethics on surrogacy. We've done almost no work there, and it's neither a small problem nor is it going away anytime soon.
Our society, 2018: "The trades are dying! Get your kids into tech jobs and computer work!" Our society, 2025: "Tech jobs and computer work is going away! AI will replace all of it!" Normal people, 2025: "We need skilled workers who can build, fix, and manage real things."
I am 29, married with two kids and never graduated college. I work in the trades and am comfortably providing for my stay at home wife and kids. I'm so tired of the talking point that this isn't possible. It is. I know it is because I'm living it.
Five years ago today, JI Packer died. Packer is one of my favorite theologians; his work on penal substitutionary atonement is exceptional, and "Knowing God" is superlative. A Bible teacher par excellence; by all accounts a kind man who wore his learning and reputation lightly.
#OTD July 17, 2020: Death of J.I. Packer evangelical theologian, cleric and writer in the low-church Anglican and Calvinist traditions. He was considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North America. Known for his best-selling book, Knowing God, written in 1973,…
Here's another lovely tribute to John MacArthur that displays his normalcy and lack of pretension. It's by a young woman named Madelyn Moses who was treated very kindly by the pastor. More of this, please. reformation21.org/blog/a-persona…
Renn "speaks of complementarianism...as a sociological phenomenon that will die out with the Boomers. He couldn’t be more wrong about that." Cosign.
Aaron Renn is very insightful when he’s offering cultural and sociological analysis. However, his most recent essay on complementarianism doesn’t engage either theology or history. In this case, his analysis of complementarianism goes awry because he takes his generalizations…
Character matters--but we have downplayed it, allowing head knowledge to trump godliness. New essay: "You Lived Privately How You Lived Publicly: John MacArthur and Christian Character." owenstrachan.substack.com/p/you-lived-pr…
I say this in love: it is not okay for same-sex "couples" to purchase children.
Normalize Christian pastors, authors, seminary and college professors, conference speakers, and ministry leaders being humble, kind, unassuming, unfussy, and gracious.