StephenBarkley.com

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the basics. I’ll let Calvin speak for himself (from the Institutes): God works in his elect in two ways: within, through his Spirit; without, through his word. By his Spirit, illuminating their minds and forming their hearts to the love and cultivation of righteousness, he makes them a [...]

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world . . .” 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world . . .” There’s an apparent contradiction—a mixed message—here. You can’t get around it linguistically. The same author wrote these verses using the verb agapaō for love and the noun kosmos for world in [...]

The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible © 2008 Zondervan 236 pages I grew up proud of the fact that my church didn’t follow a set liturgy—we followed the Spirit instead. I cringe at the arrogance while writing that now, but it used to be my reality. As I grew up I met [...]

In The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation, characters are pictured with angels and devils beside them, each trying to gain influence. I don’t agree with that understanding of anthropology for a couple reasons: It implies that we have the freedom to choose between good or evil, independent of God. It smacks of [...]

If there’s one thing any self-respecting preacher should be good at, it’s the ability to digress. I’m sure you’ve heard a few diversions from the pew. One minute the speaker’s following the inner-logic of the message, the next minute he’s off on some tangent. John does that exact thing in these verses. One minute he’s [...]