John Mark Hicks

[My book on the Shack is now available on Kindle.] The portrayal of the Trinity in The Shack has come under two assaults from critics.  Some suggest The Shack teaches modalism while others believe it teaches tritheism. The fact that such polar opposite accusations are present in the blog-o-sphere indicates….well, it is interesting to say the least.  […]

[My book on the Shack is now available on Kindle.] One of the more striking dimensions of The Shack is the intimate picture Young paints of Mack’s relationship with the Triune God. This intimacy is portrayed through actions (eating, gardening, and cooking with God), language (“Papa”), and settings (lake, log cabin, garden). Relationality is at […]

[My book on the Shack is now available on Kindle.] “Triune Shine”….what is that?  Ok, I admit it is my own invention.  But hear me out, ok? Many who have attended a 12-Step group for any length of time have heard about the “shine.”  It might be an “AA shine,” or an SA, NA, OA, […]

This prayer was written by Brandon Fredenburg of Lubbock Christian University and offered to the public on September 14, 2001.  He has posted it on his Facebook site today.  I have reproduced it below because I embrace its essence.   A Prayer of Remembrance and Mourning September 14, 2001 O God, Who created all persons […]

As an addendum to my series on Calvinism and Arminianism I want to connect this discussion to the conversions of Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell.  Both first approached God through the lens of Calvinist theology and preaching.  Neither could find assurance through that preaching because they were not certain of God’s love for them. […]

In my first post in the series on Arminianism and Calvinism, I suggested that at the heart of Calvinist theology is the desire to preserve the glory of God as the sole cause of salvation and that the heart of Arminian theology is the desire to preserve the faithfulness of God to his own relentless […]

There has been significant interest over the past decade in a resurgent Calvinism (or Reformed Theology).  Some call it a “New Calvinism” (as per Collin Hansen’s book Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists). The popularity of John Piper as well as the renewal of Calvinism among the Southern Baptists (specifically Southern Baptist Theological […]

Christians in the early centuries approached the doctrine of God according to the structure of the Apostles’ Creed and the earliest baptismal formulas:  “I believe in one God the Father, I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe in one Holy Spirit.”  To believe in one God is to believe in the Creator […]

Text: Luke 10:25-37 One of my favorite questions Jesus’ asks in the Gospel of Luke is, “How do you read it?” An expert in the law (one of the “wise and learned” in Luke 10:21 to whom spiritual depth is often hidden) asked Jesus a question: “what must I do to inherit eternal life”(or, our […]