The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 4: Is Fantasy Always Wrong?
Is fantastic literature always wrong, or can it sometimes be justifiable and moral? Everybody agrees that fantasy can be written in immoral ways or turned toward immoral purposes. Any kind of art can be used for bad purposes, and fantasy is no exception. I would never...
A Message from Ukraine
Editor’s Note: Central Baptist Theological Seminary has a genuinely global ministry. We teach students in many countries, including both Ukraine and Russia. What follows is a message from one of our students who is also a Ukrainian pastor. You may recognize the...
Let Me Say It Again
During the 1990s I was planting and pastoring Faith Independent Baptist Church in Sachse, Texas, while working on a degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. During those years I encountered two protest movements that stood at opposite ends of the political spectrum. One...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 3: What Is and Is Not the Goal
This is the third in a series of essays that try to answer the question of whether Christians can make use of fantastic literature and, if so, what use they can make. To this point the series has offered a working definition of fantastic writing, has distinguished it...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 2: A Further Distinction
The purpose of these essays is to explore the Christian’s use of fantastic literature. The discussion began with a definition of fantastic literature as belletristic writing that employs at least one of three elements: humanizing subhuman creatures, attributing...
The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part 1: Definitions and Questions
The year was 1971, and I was a junior in high school. I needed something to do in study hall, which happened to be held in the classroom where the English teacher kept a rack of paperback books. The cover of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring caught...
Two Conversations at Once
I did not listen to much classical music while I was growing up. I can remember hearing Tchaikovsky’s Overture Solonnelle (the 1812 Overture) when I was in about eighth grade. I was fascinated by it. When at seventeen I was able to buy my own stereo, the first...
Most Interesting Reading of 2021: Part Two
Last week I provided half the list of the books that I found most interesting throughout my reading during 2021. This week I provide the other half of the list. Perhaps I should mention that these books are listed in alphabetical order by the surname of the author....
Most Interesting Reading of 2021: Part One
Every year at about this time I publish an annotated list of the books that I found most interesting during the preceding twelve months. Whenever I publish this list, I explain that I don’t necessarily agree with these books. I don’t even necessarily...
Devotion
[This essay was originally published on February 26, 2016.] Time is limited. Earthly life ends with a period or even an exclamation point, not with an ellipsis. We are granted threescore and ten years, or, if strong enough, fourscore. Anything beyond that is an excess...
A Christmas Canard
Certain professing believers are detractors of Christmas observance. They insist that real Christians must not celebrate Christmas in either their homes or their churches. The objections that they raise fall into two broad categories. The first category is grounded in...
In the Bleak Midwinter
In one of the courses that I used to teach, I spent part of the semester discussing how hymns work. Hymns are poems, and poems are works of art. One of the principal ways in which art communicates is through analogy. A work of art sets up an analogy by drawing a...
Advent and Christmas
[This essay was originally published on December 7, 2012.] Any Christian discussion of holidays must begin with the recognition that we observe them in the absence of any biblical requirement. Does this mean that it is wrong to celebrate holidays? Not as long as the...
Memories of Gordon Lovik
Gordon Henry Lovik made the transition from this world to the glory of heaven early on the morning of November 19, 2021. He was well prepared for the change of address! I do not remember my initial meeting with Gordon Lovik, but could never forget him. He is one of a...
Two Faithful Servants
On October 23, 2021, I was privileged to attend the funerals of two people I greatly respected, Laurie Westerling and George Cable. Both were native Minnesotans. Both lived a long time—Laurie was 80 and George 92. Both were saved during their teens. Both were married...
Give to the Max 2021
“Give to the Max” has arrived! It began November 1 and it will end on November 18. Many years ago, Central Baptist Theological Seminary began to participate in “Give to the Max Day” every November. The event is sponsored by GiveMN, a...
A New Thing (for Me)
Nearly ten years ago I determined that I had to get into better physical condition. My approach involved two strategies. First, I made some significant and long-term changes in my eating habits. Second, I knew that I needed an exponential increase in exercise. My...
Elements in a Philosophy of Ministry: Imitation
We learn different things in different ways. Some things we learn by discovering them, like the child who learns through experience that the stove is hot. Some things we learn by being told, whether orally or through print. When it comes to skills that we must master,...
Elements in a Philosophy of Ministry: Spiritual Maturity
Multiple passages of Scripture celebrate spiritual maturity and rebuke immaturity. Two of the most pointed are 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 and Hebrews 5:11–14. In the former text Paul rebukes “carnal” believers who have failed to grow and who must be fed spiritual...
Elements in a Philosophy of Ministry: Sanctification
The first goal of a local church should be the clear exposition and application of Scripture. Faithful ministry must ground itself upon what God has said. Explaining and applying God’s Word is the most important thing a church can do. This task is critical to...
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