The Man in the Shadows
During the Christmas season, two figures stand rightfully in the spotlight. One is Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem. The other is Mary His mother. A third figure generally remains somewhere in the shadows: he is known to have been present but hardly seems to matter....
Until the Lord Shouts
It is my sad duty to report that Caleb Counterman, a Doctor of Ministry student at Central Seminary, died suddenly on Sunday morning. He was driving his wife Jessica to church when his car hit a patch of ice. In the ensuing crash, Jessica’s life was preserved,...
About Pardon
News reports this week are buzzing with President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter. Convicted on firearms and tax charges, the younger Biden was awaiting sentencing as his father neared the end of his presidential term. The president had insisted repeatedly...
Almost Ready
My latest writing project is now in the final stages of proofreading and review. It should be in the hands of Central Seminary Press by next week, ready for typesetting and publication. The timeline for its release will, I hope, be measured in weeks rather than...
Give to the Max 2024
Give to the Max 2024 is happening now through November 21. It is a major event sponsored by GiveMN, an independent agency that coordinates this special giving event for all kinds of Minnesota charitable organizations. The event aims for a “statewide outpouring of...
What a Trump Win Means
Conservative Christians throughout the United States are breathing a collective sigh of relief at the re-election of Donald Trump to the presidency. The reason is not that we are inveterate Trump supporters—far from it. Our expectations of his presidency are low. He...
Why That Name?
A respected colleague writes to ask why this electronic bulletin is named In the Nick of Time, or, to give its proper name, ΤΩ ΧΡΟΝΟU KAIΡΩ. He claims that he has often wondered about this question. Furthermore, he is sure that others would like to hear the answer. Of...
How to Vote 2024
The church’s place is not to address political questions. Rather, its work is to proclaim the whole counsel of God. Christian individuals, however, are responsible to act upon moral and spiritual concerns before they address merely temporal ones. Matters of principle...
On Becoming a Writer
Now and then, somebody will ask me what he has to do to become a writer (the he here is deliberate: I don’t recall ever receiving this query from a female). The question always seems odd since I do not consider myself to be one. Granted, I write, and some of what I...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 10: Prudential Choices
Buying a HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) home can be a great money saver at the time of purchase, but it comes with a cost in labor. I bought one in 1998, and among its other problems it had a bathroom that sorely needed attention. The fixtures were...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 9: Natural Revelation
In spite of the fall, humans still have the responsibility to exercise dominion over the earth and to subdue it. Sadly, none of us has ever seen unfallen people exerting dominion over an unfallen world. Nobody knows exactly what that would have looked like. Instead,...
Moral Injury: Central Seminary’s 2024 Fall Conference
Lee was a platoon sergeant serving in Afghanistan. He was an older non-com who had been an E-7 for a while, but he took seriously his responsibility to train and care for the soldiers in his unit. Most of them were young enough to be his sons. He was also committed to...
Civility
[This essay was originally published on January 21, 2011.] Civility is in vogue again, at least for a few moments. The nation has been traumatized by another mass murder. A psychopath in Arizona cut down half-a-dozen innocent people, including a federal judge. A...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 8: The Future of Human Dominion
God has entrusted humans with the responsibility of managing the created order. He made it and brought it to a significant level of order and utility, but then charged them with exercising dominion, thereby increasing its order and usefulness. While humanity has...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 7: The Deification of Nature
Sometimes human beings undervalue the created order. When that happens, they may bring disorder into the natural world because they begin to prey upon creation. This behavior is a reversal of God’s intention, which was that humans should continue the work of...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 6: The Devaluation of Nature
During creation week, God brought the world from a relatively lower level of order to a relatively higher level of order. In an unfallen world, humans would have continued this process of ordering creation as God’s sub-regents, exercising dominion and subduing...
Missions as Church Planting
[This essay was originally published on November 2, 2007.] Historic Baptists agree that the work of missions is the work of planting churches. They derive this conviction from the uniform pattern of the New Testament. When the churches of the New Testament...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 5: The Consequences of Sin
God made humans as mediatorial rulers to rule over creation. In the beginning, God made the world at a relatively lower level of order. Throughout creation week, He brought it to higher levels of order. At the end of the week, He delegated the task of further ordering...
God, Creation, and Humanity, Part 4: Why God Made Humans
The creation account of Genesis 1–2 is indispensable for a right understanding of both God as creator and the world as His creation. It is also essential for a right understanding of human beings in relation to both God and the created world. What the Bible teaches is...
Indefensible Dispensationalism
[This essay was originally published on October 12, 2016.] Dispensational theology has gone out of style. Fifty years ago, probably a majority of American evangelicals held some version of dispensationalism. Today, the balance has tilted in the opposite direction. Not...
About In the Nick of Time
Occasional Essays and Other Stuff for Christian Students Presented by the Research Professor of Systematic Theology of Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis.
American Christianity needs Christian leaders. Christian leaders explain the Scriptures, bringing them to bear upon life’s urgent questions. Christian leaders exemplify the life of faith, finding their ultimate satisfaction in God alone. They unite intellectual discipline with ordinate affection, turning their entire being toward the love of God. These essays are dedicated to the task of inviting Christian students to become tomorrow’s Christian leaders.
—Kevin T. Bauder
“Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
APPLICATION & AID