A Fundamental Difference in Theology by James R. Coggins

Posted on October 21, 2026 by jrcoggins

A recent exchange on Facebook helped clarify some issues for me.

Discussions, debates, and conflicts on social media often revolve around issues such as sexuality, crime, and politics. I often find myself in disagreement with some friends and former colleagues who are “liberal-leaning” Christians.

One of them recently posted this quote from Stuart Maclean, a well-known Canadian radio broadcaster: “The world is a good place, full of good people, and when we act out of that, when we act out of hope, and optimism, and faith in our fellow human, we act out of our best selves, and we are capable of doing great things, and of contributing to the greater good.”

I responded: “The world full of good people? Faith in our fellow humans? I am too aware of my own sin to call myself a good person. The history of the world is full of wars and oppression. Christian theology has faith in a good God but recognizes that people are often sinful, although they are also capable of doing good. This is a fundamental difference in viewpoint.”

One response was that my theology was obviously wrong and that McLean’s observation was “deeply Scriptural.”

This encapsulated for me a fundamental issue that underlies many of the disagreements over sexuality, crime, politics, and other current issues on social media. Are human beings basically good, or are they inherently sinful? Those who assume human beings are essentially good think:

• Virtually all sexual activity (including same-sex, premarital sex, and extra-marital sex) is normal and good. 

• Politicians are generally trustworthy.

• Nations generally act morally.

• The majority opinion is almost always correct.

• Most of the time, people make good decisions and wise choices.

• No matter what foolish mistakes we make, everything will work out.

• Criminals are just misguided and need loving rehabilitation rather than punishment.

• Addicts and the mentally ill are essentially fine the way they are. They are capable of making good decisions and taking care of themselves and do not harm other people.

• All religions are essentially good and equally valid.

• People do not need to be saved (forgiven and redeemed) by Jesus.

• People are capable of uniting and collectively sacrificing to save the environment. They can control their actions and save the world on their own.

I disagree that seeing people as fundamentally good is “deeply Scriptural.” When Jesus was in Jerusalem, “many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people” (John 2:23-24) The Greek word for “believed” in this passage is pisteuo, and the Greek word for “entrust” is the same word, pisteuo. The Greek thus states that many people had faith in Jesus but Jesus did not have faith in people. He knew better than to place His trust in them. The people in Jerusalem later crucified Him, while His closest followers ran away. The apostle Paul quoted several Old Testament passages saying, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good not even one” (Romans 3:10-12) and then concluded, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:24). In the Old Testament, God warned, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). When faced with the question of whether many would be saved, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told a parable to some people “who were confident of their own righteousness.” The parable concerned a Pharisee who went to the temple and told God how good he (the Pharisee) was and a tax collector who prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus condemned the Pharisee’s attitude and accepted the tax collector’s prayer.

The difference in starting point leads to profound differences in how we approach other issues. It is often a waste of time to argue about issues such as crime, politics, and sexuality when we have such different theological and philosophical starting places.

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A Fallen Monarch Caterpillar

Posted on October 15, 2026 by dtopliff

I picked up the grocery flyer that dropped from my mail box and found a monarch caterpillar lying inside. I wasn’t sure it was alive but put choice leaves in a jar and placed the creature there. I looked several times and saw nothing but by the next day, it had done its magic and digested and discarded body parts to spin a green chrysalis. Google says to check in 10-14 days. It will hopefully emerge as the gorgeous yellow and black butterfly we’re familiar with. I’m glad I took a chance.

Eight years ago, I found four active caterpillars on my parsley plants with black striped bands similar to monarchs except their bodies were green instead of yellow. I gave them a home and my grandchildren and I loved watching their development. These two last photos are of our last beautiful black swallowtail butterflies leaving their chrysalises and entering transformed life. It was a wonderful experience. I felt like sending birth announcements as they displayed their jeweled stained glass wings.

Whether my fallen monarch makes it or not, I’m praying for the best. Every creature deserves the chance to fulfill its destiny.

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Another look at the Great Transition by James R. Coggins

Posted on October 14, 2026 by jrcoggins

In Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul outlined the blessings Christians have received through Jesus’ redemption of them. In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians’ understanding of those blessings would be deepened. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul contrasted the Ephesian Christians’ current situation of being part of Jesus’ kingdom of life with how they were before—dead in their sin as part of Satan’s kingdom. Then, in Ephesians 2:11-3:13, Paul added another contrast. He said that previously the Ephesian Christians, being gentiles, had been excluded from God’s Old Testament covenant with Israel: “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). That is, they were not allowed to be part of God’s chosen people. They were “without hope and without God in the world,” which is very similar to saying that they were “dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and trapped in Satan’s kingdom of death rather than being set free to become part of God’s kingdom of life.  

To some extent, this overstates the case because some notable gentiles, including Caleb and Ruth, became part of the people of God in the Old Testament. As well, many Israelites and Jews fell away from God and chose to leave the kingdom of God. However, Paul’s point is valid. Paul was saying that through Jesus’ death on the cross, all people, Jews and gentiles, were being brought together to be one people of God. This was a reminder to gentile Christians not to neglect the rich heritage of revelation (the Old Testament) that they were now privileged to have access to. It was a warning that gentile Christians should not consider themselves superior to the Jews, whom God had first chosen to be His people and to have the privilege and responsibility of declaring the revelation of God. It was perhaps also a reminder to the “circumcisers” (Jewish Christians who insisted that gentile Christians should be circumcised and required to follow the Jewish laws) that Jesus had broken down the barrier and gentiles were now full partners in the gospel without having to become Jews. There were still tensions in the early church between Jews and gentiles. Paul was telling both sides to put away their racial and other prejudices and love and accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

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Go to Church by James R. Coggins

Posted on October 7, 2026 by jrcoggins

I have a friend who struggles with a number of problems. He is a Christian, but he struggles to be faithful.

Recently, he had encountered a serious financial problem. In conversation with him, I encouraged him to go to church the next Sunday.

He responded, “I know I should go, but that won’t solve my immediate financial problem.”

My friend is right. It won’t. If he goes to church on Sunday, he won’t suddenly get an unexpected check in the mail on Monday. Faith in God does not work that way. God is not a vending machine. If we insert a prayer or a church attendance or a good deed, we can’t push a button and expect to get back whatever we selected. God is living and active. And He is God, not our puppet or servant. We are His servants, not the other way around.

The thing is that we should pray, go to church, and do good deeds for their own sake.

My friend’s statement raises the question of why we go to church (or to a care group or Bible study). If we go to church to get something that we desire or need, we are going to be disappointed.

We should go to church primarily to worship God, to recognize His greatness and His justice and His mercy and His love. We should go to church to praise Him and thank Him. We should go to church primarily to have a relationship with God.

Next, we should go to church, not to get what we desire, but to align our desires with His desires. We should go to learn and understand who God is and what He wants and then to become like Him, to ask Him to change us so that we will live out His justice and mercy and love.

There are side benefits, of course. In church, we will often receive encouragement and guidance and sometimes even practical help from other believers. And in church we will be called upon to give encouragement and guidance and sometimes even practical help to others. The blessings of God’s kingdom are often communal rather than individual.

No, going to church will not guarantee a financial windfall. But it will bless us and hopefully make us to be a blessing to others.  

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Next Steps by James R. Coggins

Posted on September 30, 2026 by jrcoggins

Having outlined all the blessings Christians have received through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14), Paul then prayed that the Ephesian Christians would go deeper (Ephesians 1:15-23). This prayer is thus a challenge to all new Christians (and indeed to all Christians) to go deeper. None of us has attained full perfection (and we won’t until we reach the next life), and we should not be satisfied with our current spiritual level. What did Paul pray for? First off, Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesian Christians “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” and that “the eyes of [their] heart may be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18). In other words, Paul prayed that God would deepen and broaden their understanding. We need not get caught up in asking whether the “spirit” is the Holy Spirit (God Himself) or just an attitude. The point is that Paul prayed that God would reveal more to them than He already had. This does not mean that Paul wanted them to learn something new. What he really wanted was that their understanding would be deepened. What did they need to understand better?

1. God. Paul prayed “that you may know him better” (Ephesians 1:17).Did the Ephesian Christians know God? Yes, of course, they did. But Paul prayed that they would know God better. Many longtime Christians will agree that they know God better now than they did when they first became Christians. They know the same God, but they know Him better—just as couples celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary can say that they know each other better than they did on their wedding day. They have a much longer shared experience.

2. The hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people (Ephesian 1:18). In other words, Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians would know better the hope of heaven, the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. When they first believed in Jesus, did the Ephesian Christians understand that their sins would be forgiven and they would be resurrected and go to be with Jesus after they died? Of course, they did. But, as they grow older and their burdens grow heavier, for many people, the hope of heaven is nearer and closer to becoming a reality. And as they get to know God better, they will experience more deeply God’s love, as well as His joy and grace and all of the other aspects of their inheritance, all of the other aspects of God’s kingdom.

3.  His incomparably great power for us who believe. Christians know that God is all-powerful, in theory at least. But what does that mean in practice? Paul went on to say that the power God makes available to Christians is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and the same power that raised Jesus up to rule the universe (Ephesians 1:20-21). This means that God is far more powerful than “all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:21). God has the power to control the universe both now and in the future. And Jesus rules the church by the same power and authority. Yet, it is one thing to know this in theory and another to experience God’s power changing circumstances, healing people, performing miracles, and, above all, transforming our hearts and minds, to make us more like Jesus. We cannot command miracles—those remain in God’s control—but it is also true that often we do not have because we do not ask God (James 4:2). We do not receive because we do not believe that God can and will do the amazing things that need to be done, in our lives and in the world around us.

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Compassion Like God’s by Nancy J. Farrier

Posted on September 29, 2026 by Nancy J. Farrier

Recently, my husband and I were visiting family in California. We always go on an early morning walk, and one morning we were walking toward a busy multi-lane street that we wanted to cross. 

We were getting close when the walk sign came on and I realized we wouldn’t make it in time for this light and would have to wait for the next one. As we walked, I watched an elderly couple step into the crosswalk and come toward us. 

The man was in a wheelchair and the woman pushing him wasn’t much taller than the chair. They made their way across as the walk sign began the countdown, and I wasn’t sure they would make it in time.

When they were most of the way across, there was a crack in the pavement where two sections of pavement didn’t meet. The front wheels of the wheelchair fell in that crack and got stuck. The tiny woman tried to get it free. The man attempted to stand and help her but fell back in the chair. And the timer was ticking down to zero.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines compassion as, “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress with a desire to alleviate it.”

Compassion isn’t just being sympathetic toward someone’s situation, it is also the desire to help them out. To ease their burden. To watch for ways to step in and aid someone who is in distress for whatever reason.

When I was a new Christian, I had a dream one night—a very vivid dream. It ended with the voice of God saying to me, “You must have compassion.” I still remember that dream and those words and the weight they carried. I had to take them seriously.

At that time, I didn’t even understand what it meant to be compassionate. I had to look up the definition and then try to figure out what God meant by impressing on me the need to alleviate others’ suffering. 

Sometimes, helping others is automatic. When we have a friend or a family member who needs assistance, we are quick to step in and offer assistance. If someone from church is in need, we will also willingly give what they require. But often this in contingent on the timing being convenient for us. 

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.”

(Micah 7:18-19 ESV)

God is the great example of showing compassion. Despite all that we’ve done wrong and still do wrong, when we ask Him, He will tread those things under His feet. They will be wiped away. 

We must follow His example in extending grace to others and show a willingness to meet their needs no matter where they are. Sometimes, that is uncomfortable. Sometimes it is inconvenient. And sometimes we just don’t want to do what He asks us to do, or to help the person who is in need.

Yet, as we practice compassion, the act becomes easier. We begin to see the trials of others even when they try to hide them. Showing mercy or grace becomes an automatic gesture. 

I like to think God’s grace is automatic. When we ask His forgiveness with a broken heart, He is quick to forgive and to wipe away our sins. That doesn’t mean we don’t face consequences for what we’ve done, but we have been forgiven because of God’s compassion.

When my husband and I saw that wheelchair get stuck in the crack and the struggles of the older couple to get free and out of the road, we didn’t stop and discuss what should be done. We didn’t turn and go the other way. In fact, we didn’t even look at each other or say a word. We just walked out into that street and each grabbed one side of the wheelchair and lifted it free, helping the couple across the street in time for traffic to resume.

Just as God sees our needs and reaches out, we must reach out to others, extending the hand of Jesus to them.

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Academic Symbolism by James R. Coggins

Posted on September 23, 2026 by jrcoggins

I have noticed a trend in academics. Graduating students are dressed in academic gowns and square hats (mortarboards). It does not seem to matter whether they are graduating from kindergarten (“the kids look so cute in those gowns!”) or elementary school or middle school or high school, the students are increasingly dressed in academic garb.

This is designed to encourage these students and build their self-esteem. They are being told that they have done something significant. Even though hardly anyone ever fails these grades anymore. The symbols of higher education have been cheapened to the level of participation ribbons.

Perhaps a little history of the academic symbols will clarify the issue. In the Middle Ages, “clerk” and “cleric” were the same thing. The only men who undertook higher education were those training for the priesthood. (The few women who entered academic training did so in nunneries.) It is true that many of those who graduated entered the civil service and became secretaries to kings and nobles and other rulers, but they were still considered part of the clergy.

The black academic gown was originally a priest’s robe. Those who put it on were declaring that they were entering orders. They were dedicating themselves to a life of service, service to God and humanity.

Those who graduated from the first level of training became “bachelors.” This designation is preserved in modern Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. The simple term “bachelor” now denotes a man who has never married, but originally it denoted a man who had taken clerical orders and was now committed to a life of celibacy as a priest. (This is a far cry from the general sexual license practiced on most university campuses today.)

To symbolize that the candidate had passed from student to ordained priest, he was given a cap to go along with his gown, and sometimes a hood.

In time, a set of colored ribbons replaced the hood, placed around the neck over the black robe. The colors usually represented the graduate’s field of study and the unique colors of the university where the priest had trained.

The colors were especially present if the candidate had progressed to a higher degree than a bachelor. The quality of the cloth improved, and more color was added as the candidate progressed higher. Priests wore simple black robes, but higher-ranking clergy had more expensive, more elaborate, and more colorful garments, including more elaborate hats such as mortarboards or tams with gold tassels.

A bachelor could move on and earn a graduate degree and became a “master.” “Master” is related to the Latin “MAGISTER” (which is related to the word “magistrate”) and also has echoes of the Aramaic term “rabbi.” A master had a higher rank than a bachelor and was expected to exercise authority over those less qualified.

In time, an additional level of education was added, and masters could study further and become “doctors.” The degree PhD stands for “Doctor of Philosophy,” philosophy being considered the culmination of academic studies. Students studied grammar, rhetoric, and so on, but only the best were qualified to move on to study philosophy—“philosophy” is a Greek term meaning “love of knowledge.” To signify that a master had qualified to be a doctor, the tassel on his hat was moved from the right side to the left. This is still a central part of the graduation ceremony for doctoral graduates today.

The academic regalia has deep symbolism, similar to military uniforms. Every soldier or sailor or airman is qualified to wear the uniform. But only those promoted to a higher rank are allowed to wear the additional signia of bars and stars.

I was recently asked to teach a lesson on Reformation History to a Grade 8 class. I asked how many of the students loved school, and I received some positive responses. I asked how many of them would love to spend 27 years in school, and I received a much less positive response. I explained that I had spent 27 years in school, which is what is required to earn three graduate degrees. It was hard work and a long grind. Many who undertake graduate studies become exhausted and drop out before finishing. As a result of those 27 years of study, I am now qualified to wear the full academic regalia—just like every other graduate of kindergarten.

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Corrected Vision

Posted on September 17, 2026 by dtopliff

This summer I’ve been blessed with at least four pair of emerald and ruby throated hummingbirds. They flit among my feeders, sometimes three at a time drinking the nectar I provide.

This summer, the first time I filled the feeders, one flew to our glass patio door and hovered a while, facing me as if saying thank you.

Research shows that this is something they do to communicate. I did feel communicated with and won’t forget it.

Like other homeowners, I like everything perfect. I was bemoaning the unsightly dead branch on the oak tree behind the feeders that mars the view. And then I noticed that without fail it is the only branch the hummingbirds land on when they rest from flitting and stop to look around to make sure the coast is clear.

That made me consider the dead branches in our lives—hopes that were dashed, choices that didn’t work, and I realized they have a purpose too for us to rest and contemplate–to look around and appreciate all the green branches that do thrive.

I’m viewing the dead branch differently. My camera couldn’t catch the hummingbirds busy at the feeders, but look carefully. This photo of the unsightly branch shows a hummingbird resting on the upper right portion.

I’m appreciating that branch’s purpose now. May we have peace as we consider the dead branches in our lives. Instead of wanting to remove them for flawless images, let’s consider their usefulness and rest on them more.

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The Great Transition by James R. Coggins

Posted on September 16, 2026 by jrcoggins

The pattern for the book of Ephesians is this. In Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul outlined the blessings Christians have received through Jesus’ redemption of them. In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians’ understanding of those blessings would be deepened. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul stepped back to contrast the Ephesian Christians’ current exalted status with their past. He said that previously they had been “dead in transgressions and sin” (Ephesians 2:1). Furthermore, instead of being a part of Jesus’ kingdom, they were trapped in the kingdom of Satan, “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), unable to control their sinful desires and deserving death (Ephesians 2:3). Many Christians take their salvation for granted, not recognizing the terrible state they were in before and the terrible state other people are in. And, Paul added, the dramatic change has come about purely by God’s grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:9). There is nothing Christians could have done to save themselves. It is God and God alone who has rescued us.

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ZAP! By James R. Coggins

Posted on September 9, 2026 by jrcoggins

Zap. That is what my T-shirt says. The message is over a half-century old, and it was a gift. It was given to me by the girls in the ice cream factory in recognition of my status as a superhero, albeit a relatively unknown superhero named Zap.

The background requires some explanation. The day after I finished high school, I began work in a local ice cream factory. Ice cream being a seasonal product, the factory would hire a lot of university students in the summer to supplement the regular workforce and increase production to meet high summer demand. I worked at that factory for several summers, and it largely paid my way through university.

There were two main groups of workers in the factory—operators and girls. The “girls” ranged in age from later teens to middle sixties, while the operators were men (and male university students). Operators had to set up the machines and keep them running properly. They worked slightly longer hours than the girls and were paid better. The operators were responsible for maintaining production, keeping the machines running perfectly was often a technically difficult balancing act, and the operators were under a lot of stress. The girls had a much more straightforward and more boring job, bagging and packing the products at the end of the production line.

I should say that it was the 1970s, and women were just beginning to become operators. I had no problem with that. I even encouraged one of the university girls to apply to be an operator because I thought she would be good at it. She refused, preferring to remain in the less stressful company of the sisterhood.

Oh, yes, the T-shirt. I admit freely that, as an operator, I was a good university student. My field was English and History, not anything useful such as engineering. Unlike many of the full-time operators, I was not mechanically gifted. I managed to maintain good production on the machines, but I had to work very hard for it. It did not come naturally. As a result, I gained a reputation for being very intense on the job, focused on doing everything right and getting the work done.

The university girls who worked with me thought I had delusions of grandeur, presenting myself as a superhero. I don’t think they recognized how much I struggled. Hence, they gave me the T-shirt as a way of mocking my pretensions. I already had the other side of the superhero persona down pat—the nerdy alter ego similar to Clark Kent and Peter Parker. I was short, already balding, and not physically very imposing.

So, why have I kept that T-shirt for over half a century? There are two reasons. The first is that I am cheap. A free T-shirt is a free T-shirt. I am not wasting a free gift, no matter the motives behind it.

The other reason is that the T-shirt is a reminder to not take myself too seriously, to be humble and to be aware of my weaknesses. I do not regret focusing on doing good work in that factory. I still think that was important. But I also recognize that I should beware of the sin of self-importance. The poet Robert Burns wrote: “Oh, would some Power the gift give us to see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us.” That T-shirt is a mirror in which I can see myself. It is indeed a superpower that has been given to me.

I kept that T-shirt in a drawer for many years, wearing it occasionally. A grandson borrowed it a few years ago and never gave it back. It has developed some holes, the Zap message is becoming unreadable, and it will eventually be discarded and forgotten. My grandson has no idea of the superpower hidden in that worn and faded T-shirt.

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Labels by Nancy J. Farrier

Posted on September 7, 2026 by Nancy J. Farrier
Photo by GeoJango Maps on Unsplash

Labels. We are a society that uses labels. It’s the perfect way to tell what’s what. For instance, on a map you label the restaurants, hospitals, and shopping centers, and, of course, streets. We label the foods we eat and the vehicles we drive. That’s all very helpful. The problem comes when we start labeling people.

In the Bible, people were labeled. The Samaritans were only partially Jewish, so they were avoided by the Jews. Tax collectors were despised because of their work. Gentiles, Romans, Greeks, were not of Jewish descent and considered less than. Because of their labels, these people already came with a preconceived ideal in the perceivers mind.

But, Jesus didn’t see them that way. He spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well. He invited Matthew, the tax collector, to be one of His disciples. As for the Gentiles, Romans, and Greeks, scripture says, “For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:11 LSB) God doesn’t see people according to labels they wear, but He sees the heart.

Let’s look at the labels we put on people. We label according to race, financial status, intelligence, gender preference, and political preferences, and many others. These labels might be accurate to a point, but instead of seeing a person, we are looking at them through a preconceived lens. Our labels lead to prejudices that don’t belong in the Christian community.

Think of the last time you’ve heard someone say something like, “The people there are too poor, too conservative, too liberal, too supportive of homosexuality, too (insert race here), too Christian.” What you heard may not be worded exactly like that, but the sentiment is there. I don’t want to associate with people who carry certain labels.

What we are saying is we are not interested in seeing individuals, we are only looking at one aspect of each person and making a judgement call on who they are. This gives us an excuse to exclude certain pockets of society and making our reasoning sound good to ourselves, even if it isn’t valid according to the Bible.

God says we’ll be known by our love. When we judge people according to a label, we are not giving that love a chance to blossom. We’ve put them in a box that says “keep away,” and shoved them out of sight. 

As always, we want to be like Jesus. We want to emulate His actions toward people. We must show the love of Christ, even to those who carry a label we don’t agree with. 

Let’s look at the person. What is important to them? What burdens do they carry? What needs do they have that are unmet? How can we minister to them? What is Jesus asking us to do?

Even if they aren’t going to become your best friend, you can still find a common ground where you can minister to them. Ask God to give you love for this person—the ability to see past the label to what He sees when He looks at them. 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 LSB)

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A Note on “Compel” by James R. Coggins

Posted on September 2, 2026 by jrcoggins

In Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14:15-24, the man hosting the banquet sent his servants to find guests for his banquet. When those originally invited refused, he sent his servants out into the streets of the town to invite “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” When there was still room, the host sent his servants out into the countryside to find more people and “compel them to come in” (Luke 14:21-23). Since this verse is related to the theological debate over predestination versus free will, what does “compel” mean? The Greek word is anagkazo, which means to compel or constrain. To understand the exact meaning of this word, it might be helpful to see how else it is used in the New Testament:

• In Acts, 26:11, Paul said, “I went from one synagogue to another to have them [Christians] punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme.” The King James Version says “compelled” instead of “tried to force,” and the Greek word is anagkazo. Paul used threats and maybe even torture to try to convince Christians to abandon Jesus. Obviously, he failed in many cases, so this falls short of being absolute control.

• In 2 Corinthians 12:11, Paul said, “I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it.” The King James Version translated “you drove” as “ye have compelled me” (the Greek is anagkazo). Paul was saying that he felt he needed to make this argument, but again this falls short of the Corinthians making the decision for Paul or forcing him to make it.

• In Galatians 2:3, when Paul went to Jerusalem to test what he was teaching, Paul said, “Not even Titus…was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.” (The Greek is anagkazo.) He was not suggesting that the Jewish Christian leaders would have forcibly circumcised Titus, but rather that they might have required this as a condition for accepting Titus as a Christian brother.

• In Galatians 2:14, Paul asked Peter, “How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” The Greek word for “force” here is anagkazo. Again, Paul was not thinking that Peter would force gentile Christians to follow Jewish rituals but that Peter might order them to do so. Ordering is not the same things as controlling.

So, the “compel” in Jesus’ parable is not proof of the truth of predestination. God goes to great lengths to convince and urge people to come to the feast He is preparing for them but stops short of overpowering human free will.

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Ugly Red Blotches by James R. Coggins

Posted on August 26, 2026 by jrcoggins

Some people are too polite.

I have fair skin, and I am bald. When I was young, the experts were urging people to seek exposure to the sun and get a tan. I got sunburned.

The result is that from to time little, scaly pre-cancerous patches appear on my skin. If left, they could turn into skin cancer. The solution is that, every once in a while, I spread a prescription cream on the patches every day for several weeks. The cream burns off the pre-cancerous cells, leaving ugly red blotches, which gradually fade once I have stopped applying the cream.

The thing is that, during the time I was applying this treatment a couple of months ago, no one in my church or care group mentioned that I had ugly red patches on my skin. Maybe they thought I would be embarrassed if they drew attention to them. Or maybe they knew I am old and assumed that old people are naturally ugly.

When I pointed out the patches to one of my grandsons, He said, “Oh, yeah. What are they?”

I said, “Measles.”

He knows me. He said, “I don’t believe you.”

I said, “Leprosy.”

He said, “I don’t believe you.”

I said, “Cancer.”

He said, “I don’t believe you.”

But this time what I had said was partially true.

There is a hilarious John Candy movie in which he goes to a meeting with a school principal who has a prominent mole on her face. He does everything to avoid mentioning the mole, but he can’t take his eyes off it, and everything he says comes out wrong, containing oblique references to the mole.

Years ago, many years ago, I was a leader in a college and career group. In the group was a young woman who was seriously overweight, probably due to a genetic or metabolic problem. A non-Christian student said to another member of the group, “If you Christians really loved that girl, you would talk to her about her weight.” So, it was decided that someone in the group should talk to her. Somehow it was also decided that that someone should be me. With fear and trembling one evening, I broached the subject with her. She was not offended, perhaps because she sensed my fear and trembling. The result was that she opened up about the subject to other young women in the group and was able to gain encouragement and support.

Sometimes we are too polite. We need to be careful not to accuse people of having dust in their eyes when we have a log in our own (Matthew 7:3). But church and care groups should be safe places where we can say to someone, “You seem to be struggling today. How can I help?” How can we carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) when we don’t know what they are?

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Study the True

Posted on August 20, 2026 by dtopliff

Twice during my many years of teaching in Christian university classrooms, a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank employee took different classes from me. She was delightful and we enjoyed insightful conversations. The other students loved asking her questions. Our favorite was the day one asked how Federal Reserve employees are trained to recognizing counterfeit money. My students were sure she and her cohorts spent hours and days studying false currencies.

“Not at all,” she said. “We don’t waste any time looking at the poor amateur printing attempts out there. They train us well by giving us long sessions to learn the sight and feel of only the true currency—the paper’s color, weight, thickness, feel, texture, printing, shading, even its aroma—everything about it, so that any time we see or handle the false, we instantly know the difference.” She laughed. “You can’t fool us. We spend our time studying the true so thoroughly, that nothing else measures up.”

What a profound answer. That truth also applies to the many religious counterfeits out there. Don’t get distracted, confused, or turned aside by noticing strange variations—even those that look close to true. None of them matter. Study the living word, its ring of truth, how it reveals the redeeming Savior we walk and talk with daily who alone gives life. Nothing and no one else is worth our attention.

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God’s Plan for Redemption by James R. Coggins

Posted on August 19, 2026 by jrcoggins

The first chapter of Ephesians is one of the passages in the Bible that raises the difficult question of free will versus predestination. Do people choose whether to follow Jesus, or does God decide who will become Christians?

One of the first issues that needs to be resolved in this chapter is: Who is “we”? Paul said, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined” (Ephesians 1:11). Does “we” refer to Paul? Paul was directly called by Jesus in Acts 9, transforming him from an opponent of Christianity to an evangelist. God declared that Paul was “my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15). After being blinded by a light from heaven, hearing Jesus speak to him directly, and then being healed, Paul had overwhelming proof that Jesus was the Son of God. God gave Paul such a dramatic conversion in order to carry him through the trials that he would later endure. But could those same trials have deterred Paul from agreeing to follow Jesus? Could Paul have refused to heed the evidence and rejected Jesus? Perhaps, but he would have known that was foolish. Paul understood that he had been personally and miraculously called to follow Jesus, a conviction that drove him forward for the rest of his life. Paul certainly qualifies as one of the “we.” And yet, if Paul was referring only to himself, he would likely have said “I” and not “we.”

Could the “we” refer to the Jews and/or Jewish Christians? God called Abraham and the children of Israel to be His chosen people. They did not seek God, but God chose them. Could they have refused? Well, we know that many Israelites and many Jews later rejected God’s call and fell away. Paul said that the “we” were “the first to put our hope in Christ” (Ephesians 1:12). That could refer to Jewish Christians, who were Jesus’ first followers. Or it could refer to the first generation of Christian believers.

Could the “we” refer to all Christians? Possibly, but after saying that “we” had been chosen by God, Paul said to the Ephesians, “You also were included in Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). The Ephesian Christians were not originally part of the “we,” but they were later included when they believed in the gospel of salvation. If the Ephesian Christians were later included in the “we,” then so are we even later Christians.

So, what does it mean that God “chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4)? Does that simply mean that before the world was created, God knew that people would sin and so He planned to send Jesus to save sinners? Or does it mean that God chose individual people to follow Him and be saved? Did God predestine our fate before we were born, or do we have free will to choose or reject God’s call to be saved?

In The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14), Jesus told a story about a king sending his servants to bring those who had been invited to the wedding banquet of his son. When they all refused to come, the king sent his servants to bring “all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good” (Matthew 22:10); that sounds like a church composed of “sinners saved by grace.” Jesus concluded this story by saying, “Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:1-14). Jesus told this story when He was in Jerusalem preparing to die on the cross. The story could thus refer to the Jews refusing to accept Jesus and God therefore calling gentiles (through His servants, the apostles and preachers such as Paul) to be His new chosen people. This appears to be teaching that God calls many (or all) people to follow Him, but most of them refuse. However, in the similar Parable of the Great Banquet, when those originally invited refused to come, the owner of the house sent his servants to bring in “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” from the town, and when there was still room, he sent his servants to go even farther, to “go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in” (Luke 14:21-23). So, people must have free will if they can refuse to come to God’s banquet, but God must predestine them since He “compels” people to come in.

I am not sure that God or Paul meant for the first chapter in Ephesians to spark a long theological debate. What point was Paul trying to make? I think he was trying to show the Ephesian Christians what a great privilege they had received. He was trying to spark gratitude. Like Paul, the Ephesian Christians would have had no chance to reject Jesus unless God had sent His servants to preach the gospel of salvation to them. They could take no credit for their salvation because it was God who planned everything, sent Jesus to die on the cross, and sent preachers to bring the good news to them. Therefore, like the Ephesian Christians, we should be overwhelmed with amazement and gratitude that God has blessed us, that God has chosen us, that God loves us, that we have been adopted as God’s children, that God has redeemed us through the blood of Jesus, that God has forgiven our sins, that God has lavished grace on us, and that God has “made known to us the mystery of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-9).

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