Wyatt Graham

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Men’s Breakaway Liveblog 3 | Peter Mahaffey

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For Peter’s second session at Muskoka Bible Centre’s Men’s Breakaway conference, Peter provides Biblical principles to overcome sin. Our primary zeal should be to honour God.

11:24 What are we fighting against? We are not fighting against sin, but we are fighting to “see the beauty and glory of Christ more clearly so that our souls may find satisfaction in him”

11:27 We are in a war; so we need to have  war-like mentality. The war is internal (sinful flesh) and external: the world and the devil.

In North America, Satan puts people to sleep to get the people of God. Relax on the couch. “You are not in a spiritual war.” But we are in a war until Christ returns.

1 Pet 2:11: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

[Read more…] about Men’s Breakaway Liveblog 3 | Peter Mahaffey

Men’s Breakaway Liveblog 2 | Peter Mahaffey

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Muskoka Bible Centre is hosting a Men’s Breakaway conference in Ontario. Peter Mahaffey, Assistant Minister of Grace Fellowship Church and part of Strength to Fight and part of Strength to Fight, is one of the two speakers this weekend. I’ll be live blogging the sessions (or at least many of them!).

Peter Mahaffey ministers to those who struggle with using pornography, and he is presenting on this difficult subject now.  [Read more…] about Men’s Breakaway Liveblog 2 | Peter Mahaffey

How to Read A Book

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Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

– Francis Bacon

Reading a book seems like a simple task. You open up a book/turn on your kindle, then read. Done. And yet: it is not that simple. At least Mortimer Adler didn’t think so when he wrote a 426 page book on the subject.

I also don’t think it’s as simple as opening and reading. All sorts of books exist, and each sort of book should be read in a different sort of way. There are at least three categories of books: Books to Taste, Books to Be Swallowed, and Books to Be Chewed and Digested. Let’s take a look at each. [Read more…] about How to Read A Book

The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt II)

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The last two weeks have witnessed the break out of a civil war between complementarian Trinitarians. One side affirms the eternal functional subordination of the Son (EFS), while the other side affirms only the economic subordination of the son (classical or non-EFS). Put more simply, one side argues that the Son has eternally submitted to the Father, while the other side asserts that the Son only submits to the Father in history.

I chronicle the beginning of the civil war here, providing context for the rest of this article in which I detail the on-going debate during June 11th to June 21st. During this period, the war intensifies. On June 13th Lewis Ayres and Michel Barnes, reputable patristic scholars, weigh-in on the Trinitarian debate, assaulting the position of Ware and Grudem (EFS). The patristic hammer weakens the EFS side, but they counterattack on the 14th and 20th. [Read more…] about The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt II)

The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt I)

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Over the last two weeks, Christian blogs have been ablaze with debates about the Trinity. These debates have centered on how the Son relates to the Father. One side argues that how the Son submits to the Father in history is the same way God the Father relates to the God the Son in eternity. The other side argues that the way the Son submits to the Father in history is not the way God the Son relates to the Father in eternity.

The first position goes by at least three names: eternal function subordination (EFS), eternal relational subordination (ERS), or eternal relational authority-submission (ERAS). More specifically, it argues that the way the Son differs from the Father is by submitting, while the Father to the Son is by exerting authority. This relationship is how these two members of Trinity differ in eternity.

For EFS proponents, the submission of the Son does not indicate any inferiority between the two essentially. Actually, submission is an honorable role that does not require an ontological difference between the Father and Son. Further, this analogy between the Father and Son makes sense of human relations, relations between husband (authority) and wife (submission). 1 Corinthians 11:3 provides justification for this position: “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” [Read more…] about The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt I)