December 2014 - The Nicene Nerd

The Miracle of Christmas, From the Bible

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God He was with God in the beginning All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men … Continue reading

An Android Analogy for God’s Sovereignty: Xposed Causality

If you are a pretty serious Android user, you’ve probably heard of the Xposed Framework. It is wonderful magic that lets you basically do anything to your phone/tablet without installing a new version of Android or modifying system apps. Recently, when deliberating on God’s sovereignty, it struck me that the way Xposed works could actually make a … Continue reading

My Favorite Christmas Song

This is my absolute favorite Christmas song. The first part with Silent Night/Away in a Manger is good, but I really love I Celebrate The Day because I completely identify with it. Pay close attention to the lyrics and see if you do, too. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIIEA6wvNlw] Here is where You’re finding me In the exact same place as … Continue reading

A Different Kind of Calvinism: Let’s Talk Sovereignty and Maybe Jesus’ Humanity

This is post 5 of 5 in the series “A Different Kind of Calvinism” When I left off explaining EC last time, I gave an unfortunately brief sketch of the EC view of human freedom. Human freedom, as opposed to libertarian free will, is grounded in God’s life of Triune love, given to us through … Continue reading

A Few Silly Christian Jokes

Christian jokes. Gotta’ love ’em. Without further ado, here’s what I got: Baptist Jokes You might be a Southern Baptist if: You think God’s presence is strongest on the back three pews. Your definition of fellowship has something to do with food. You honestly believe that the Apostle Paul spoke King James English. You think … Continue reading

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Tears. They filled Martha’s eyes as she spoke with the man before her. She respected him and was happy to see him, but couldn’t help but be slightly angry at him. He could have fixed things. He should have been there. She’d choked out some words of trust to him, but they were somewhat hollow. … Continue reading

Yeah, About that “Abstain from All Appearance of Evil” Thing

All my life I heard Christians tell me to be careful about how my actions look to others. They bring out 1 Thessalonians 5:22 in the trusty KJV, which says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” So there you have it! “Don’t do anything,” you would hear, “that might look compromising.” Because of this belief, lots of … Continue reading

A Different Kind of Calvinism: What About Free Will?

This is post 4 of 5 in the series “A Different Kind of Calvinism” I left off in my last EC (Evangelical Calvinism) post explaining how we view election as about Jesus. He took our reprobation (rejection by God) on the Cross and gave us His election (being God’s Chosen One). So now humanity is the elect … Continue reading