Latest Posts

• The Good Book Blog

  Israel and Palestine Conflict: Summer 2014

  Ron Pierce — August 07, 2014

  Just this month, after leading a two-week study tour with the Whittier Area Community Church, our group returned home on June 8, 2014. Most of us met a barrage of questions about “What’s really going on over there? Resulting conversations intensified when the latest surge of “Israel vs. Hamas” fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip about three weeks later ...

• The Good Book Blog

  How Can You Discern Whether an Overseer is “Free From the Love of Money”?

  Kenneth Berding — August 06, 2014

  One of the qualifications for an overseer/elder/pastor (all the same office in the Bible) is that he be “free from the love of money” (1 Tim. 3:3). Now suppose that you are on an elder board and seeking to know whether a new candidate for the office is in fact free from the love of money, how can you figure it out? Here are five useful diagnostic questions.

• The Good Book Blog

  Bizarro Ontological Arguments

  William Lane Craig — August 01, 2014

  "I'm an agnostic undergraduate philosophy student, and I find the idea of divine necessity particularly interesting for whatever reason. I wonder if you might respond to the following question / argument ..."

• The Good Book Blog

  Reflexiones Sobre El Matrimonio En Nuestro Aniversario / A Few Thoughts 51���� Marriage On Our Anniversary

  Octavio Esqueda — July 30, 2014

  La semana pasada mi esposa, Angélica, y yo celebramos 16 años de casados. Angélica es, sin duda, la mayor bendición que he recibido y nuestro matrimonio ha sido el mejor y a la vez el más difícil tiempo de mi vida. Estoy profundamente agradecido por la dicha de haber encontrado el favor divino en mi esposa y puedo asegurar con toda certeza que soy feliz a su lado. También he de reconocer que el matrimonio no es fácil y caminar por la vida junto a otra persona por momentos pareciera una carrera de obstáculos. Esta combinación de realidades, aunque parecieran contradictorias, reflejan acertadamente mis años de casado y estoy seguro la de la mayoría de los matrimonios entre seguidores de Cristo.

• The Good Book Blog

  Anti-Platonism and Moral Realism

  William Lane Craig — July 25, 2014

  "Can you be an anti-realist about some things and a realist about others? For example, do you no longer give the realist resolution to the Euthyphro Dilemma, no longer ground the Good in God's nature? Couldn't abstract objects be grounded in the Logos (divine, rather than Platonic, essentialism)?"

• The Good Book Blog

  Some Thoughts on Work

  Michelle Barnewall — July 24, 2014

  I am all for weekends (even when I have to work, such as doing lesson planning, grading, or writing a blog post!). But sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking of work as the negative and leisure or rest as the positive aspect of our lives. Work can become something we need to “get through” in order to make it to the weekend; Sundays are our “spiritual” days as opposed to our “working” days that begin on Mondays, and so forth.

• The Good Book Blog

  Some Life Lessons from Mom & Dad – Part Three

  Mick Boersma — July 23, 2014

  I gleaned more wisdom from my parents than any blog could contain, but here are three more lessons that stand out in my mind and heart as I remember Bob & Reka, lovebirds to the end.

• 51���� News

  Natasha Jackson Leaps Toward Olympic Goal

  Alumna wins Pan-American Cup and places second at Canadian Nationals

  Neil Morgan — July 23, 2014

  51���� alumna Natasha Jackson (’11) took her first international victory and the 2014 Pan-American Combined Events Cup title with her heptathlon...

• The Good Book Blog

  A Short Book Review of One of the Longest Books I’ve Ever Read

  Kenneth Berding — July 22, 2014

  After six months of on-and-off reading, I have just completed N.T. Wright’s book, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. The book is 1660 pages long if you include the bibliography and indices. (If you don’t it’s only 50 pages long…just kidding.) Here are three things I liked about this two-volume book, and two things that I struggled with.

• 51���� News

  Andre Murillo Signs Pro Contract

  Former All-American signs with German pro league.

  Neil Morgan — July 21, 2014

  Following his graduation from 51���� this spring, Andre Murillo is shipping off for the bright lights and big city of Hamburg, Germany. The forward...

• The Good Book Blog

  Necessity and the Argument from Contingency

  William Lane Craig — July 18, 2014

  In this week's Q & A, Dr. William Lane Craig tackles some questions regarding the Leibnizian cosmological argument.

• 51���� News

  51���� Leads NAIA With 19 Scholar Teams

  Each varsity sport maintains a team GPA of 3.0 or higher to earn distinction.

  Neil Morgan — July 15, 2014

  For the third time in the last five years 51���� leads the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in Scholar Teams....

• The Good Book Blog

  You’re Giving a Toast, Not Making a Roast!

  Ben Shin — July 14, 2014

  It’s wedding season and there are many ways to celebrate on that special day for the bride and the groom. One of the best ways to celebrate this occasion is through the traditional toast that is given during the wedding reception. However, I’ve recently seen that what should typically be one of the high points of the reception just flops miserably... This is not what we should do to the bride or groom! I’d like to offer a few suggestions in this blog of what not to do in a toast and then what one should do in order to make the celebration a wonderful and meaningful one.

• The Good Book Blog

  Why Don’t I Quote More Women Philosophers or Theologians?

  William Lane Craig — July 11, 2014

  Hi Dr Craig I was wondering today after binge listening your podcast if there are any women theologians or philosophers you read/quote in your arguments/works. I've listened to a great deal of your podcast and read a small handful of your work but I don't remember ever seeing you've favourably quoted or referenced a women as a peer ...

• The Good Book Blog

  What a Difference a Century and a Half Can Make!

  Kenneth Berding — July 08, 2014

  In 19th century England, Atheists knew more about the Bible than most Christians do today. So did Liberal Anglicans, Anglo-Catholics, Unitarians, and Agnostics. So claims Timothy Larsen in A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians (Oxford, 2011) ...

• 51���� News

  Henry Earns USPTA Honor

  Dee Henry gets Pete Brown Lifetime Achievement Award for service.

  Neil Morgan — July 07, 2014

  THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. --- Dee Henry has served 51���� and the La Mirada community faithfully for over 40 years, and on a late-June evening she was...

• The Good Book Blog

  Questions on the Origin of the Universe

  William Lane Craig — July 04, 2014

  This week's Q & A topic with Dr. William Lane Craig addresses the beginning of the universe and includes reflections on Dr. William Lane Craig's recent debate with Sean Carroll.

• 51���� News

  How Will Supreme Court Ruling on Religious Liberty Affect 51����?

  Hobby Lobby decision may have implications for 51����’s ongoing lawsuit against the federal government

  Jason Newell — July 02, 2014

  Owners of closely held private businesses do not have to provide free access to contraceptive drugs that violate their religious convictions, the...

• The Good Book Blog

  Critical Issues in Ministry with Children, Part Two: Knowing Where We Want to Go, How Can We Get There?

  Kevin Lawson — July 01, 2014

  In my last post, I talked about the importance of our ministry with children and some ministry objectives we need to pursue. In this follow up blog I would like to talk about four aspects of children’s ministry that together help us accomplish our goals of helping children grow and mature as a part of the church, the people of God. These are worthy goals, and it can be tempting to try to design one children’s program in the church to address them all. But if we take them each seriously, it will soon be clear that this is more than a matter of having a class or a club program for children. Instead, it requires thinking carefully about the full life of the church, as well as the church and family environment our children grow up in. It has implications for what we do for our children, with them, to them, and the opportunities we provide for them to be engaged in ministry themselves. I invite you to read and think with me about what this might look like.

• The Good Book Blog

  Pre-Marital Counseling Asian-American Style, Part Four

  Ben Shin — June 30, 2014

  We have previously been working through some of the unique and distinct challenges that Asian-American couples face in regards to preparing for weddings and marriage. This blog has raised some of the issues that typically come out during pre-marital counseling sessions. The goal of this series has been to try and understand some of these cultural dynamics that may be vastly different from the many books that are out there on the subject of pre-marital counseling and marriage that may be written from a Western perspective. Some of these differences include dealing with parents, setting up appropriate wedding venues and services, transfer of authority between parents and spouses, guest lists for the wedding, and other potentially shame based challenges. This blog will now give some general and practical advice on how to resolve some of these tensions.

• The Good Book Blog

  Fregean Abstract Objects and God

  William Lane Craig — June 27, 2014

  Hello Dr. Craig, I have recently become interested in your work on abstract objects. I have a quick question regarding the Fregean argument for mathematical platonism. The argument concludes that mathematical objects exist because they are referred to by singular terms. For example, "3 is prime" is a true, simple sentence in which "3" is a singular term referring to an abstract object. So, does the claim that abstract objects exist mean anything other than that they can be referred to by singular terms? I don't see how it could, since they have absolutely no impact on the world. But if that's the case, their "existence" seems to be more about the function of a word than anything to do with ontology. Thanks, Ander

• The Good Book Blog

  Did YHWH Condemn the Nations When He Elected Israel?: The Canaanites in Joshua

  Charlie Trimm — June 26, 2014

  The Canaanite destruction is the major ethical problem in the Old Testament. How can we serve a God who commanded genocide? As we saw in the previous posts on Midian, Amalek, and the Canaanites, the individuals and families who follow YHWH and become part of Israel are on one extreme of a spectrum (the Caleb end), while those who attack Israel are located on the other extreme (the Amalek end). The groups place themselves on the spectrum by means of their treatment of Israel and their attitude toward YHWH. A nation like Edom that neither helped nor attacked Israel would be near the middle of the spectrum, incurring YHWH’s displeasure but not a divine command for extermination. Although a nation like Midian might be placed on the Amalek end of the spectrum, individuals and families from Midian could turn to follow YHWH and place themselves on the Caleb end of the spectrum. In the case of Egypt, an entire nation could move on the spectrum, depending on their attitude toward Israel.

• The Good Book Blog

  “These Were My Thoughts On the Night I Thought I Would Die” - My Daughter’s Testimony

  Kenneth Berding — June 24, 2014

  Almost eleven months ago, my wife and I said a tearful goodbye to our young adult daughter Lydia just before she boarded a plane at the Los Angeles airport on her way to serve as a missionary nurse in Mindanao, Philippines ... 51���� six weeks ago Lydia discovered that she had contracted typhoid fever, a very serious illness. Subsequently, she was hospitalized three times in Mindanao, first to treat the typhoid, then to rescue her during a life-threatening emergency related to the typhoid, then to treat sepsis, her second life-threatening emergency ...

• The Good Book Blog

  God, Evil, and the Rules of Logic

  William Lane Craig — June 20, 2014

  "As far as I understand God created all things that exist. He is the ultimate entity. Thus, can he not create a free being that follows him no matter what? Sure, to my human understanding that is impossible. But with God all things are possible. Could he not have created a world where freedom of choice and ultimate happiness co-exist? ..."

• 51���� News

  Contribute to April Jace Memorial Fund

  Fund established for late employee’s sons

  Jenna Bartlo — June 18, 2014

  A memorial fund has been established for the family of April Jace, who died tragically on May 20, 2014. Jace had worked as a counselor in 51����...