Phil Johnson shared this video yesterday with the following comment:

"Every time a new evangelical fad comes along, thousands of naive churchgoers dutifully jump into the parade, and this is pretty much what always happens. #downgrade"

It could not be truer.

P.S. The action starts at 0:43.

In the thread "Why I became a calvinist" some posts were made about the Atonement. Discussing Calvinism and the Atonement in one thread is a daunting task. I think atonement issues deserve their own thread. So, here we are.

@agedman made an interesting post in the other thread. He wrote:

"The penal aspects are one portion of the substitution theories in which the Scriptures display the work of redemption.

Imo, no single theory stands as complete, for salvation required aspects of...

The central issue separating Arminianism and Calvinism doctrinally, to me, is whether God desires all people to be saved.

Currently I believe God wants all saved, but this causes me to see a great paradox all over scripture. God of all Beings desires things but does not get them. God rules and reigns on His throne, but somehow His will concerning sin is disobeyed. I don't claim to know how this works, that is the mind of and wisdom of God.

The will is clearly degraded before salvation...

The other thread is over 130 posts, so it will be probably be locked soon. Perhaps you can pick up the discussion here. The thread moved very quickly this afternoon and it has been difficult to catch up on all the posts.

Does your church use catechisms? If so, which ones?

I got a review copy of one from Crossway last week and thought it was pretty good.

Book Review: The New City Catechism - Reformed Truths

I was at one time into the free will Gospel message, and the theology resulting from that viewpoint, but when I started to line up scriptures in especially the Gospel of John and Romans, was forced to conclude that in regards to sotierology, Calvinists understood this area much more biblically!

I believe it is important for one side to listen to what the other side has to say. Sometimes one side realizes that they misunderstood something. Other times there is a legitimate issue.

Given another discussion I thought it would be interesting to explore the reasons people have left one theology (not necessarily why they have adopted another, but why they found a position they held to be wrong).

In that spirit, for those who have been Calvinists and have abandoned that theological...

if all of us were born spiritual dead in Adam, and as such in the flesh and not the people of God, were we not at that goats, at least until reborn from above?

Below is a list of 11 appearances of our Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection (to which is added the post-ascension appearance to Paul). Is this correct? Is this all of them? Your thoughts?

The appearances of our Lord Jesus after His resurrection
Before his ascension

To Mary Magdalene, Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18.
To Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James, Matthew 28:9-10.
To Peter, Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5.
To Cleopas and another disciple on the road to Emmaus,...

Ok, I have a lot of Christian friends on another group that can't stand the Passion Conference.

Here is a link to a snapshot of it:
Their critiques make sense to me. That it is narcissistic, emotionally manipulative, worldly and carnal instead of worshipful, is a poor representation of the Gospel, obsessed with being cool like a pop concert, and lacks emphasis on scripture.

That said, I do get there are some really well meaning people here like John Piper and Ravi Zacharias. We are told...