The Tulip Driven Life

Celebrity-honoring extravaganzas like the Oscars and the Grammy Awards might be over for now, but that doesn't mean actors and musicians are out of the spotlight just yet. We  love  them. We want more of them. And because we love them, the most popular newspapers in the world are those which contort themselves and strain to deliver our demands for more:   The Sun   is the second most widely circulated English newspaper on the planet, and it is little more than a British celebrity gossip magazine. But have you ever stopped to wonder why it is that we follow the lives of the rich and famous? After all, Brad Pitt and  Justin Bieber  do seem like interesting people, but not enough for me to want to pay   tens of thousands  for a lock of Bieber's hair! There is something more going on. As far as I can tell, the reason we follow the lives of these famous people is because they represent the heights of human potential for us: we pay them to be our id...

This is Nathan Fox's first post for the TDL. I would like to first post his bio, so you can see where the Lord has brought him thus far. His actual post will follow.  Early Life The Lord blessed me to grow up in a Christian home. Both parents are heavily involved in our church, but beyond that, have taken the time grow our family through Christian principles and values. I grew up and professed faith in Christ at the age of 9, and attempted to grow in both my knowledge and application of the Bible. I loved going to church, loved reading and learning God's Word, and even more so, loved to talk about Jesus. However, as time went on, some very troubling sins creeped into my life, and ultimately took a hold on me in high school. High School Years I came to high school a quiet, calm, and kind young man (if I do say so myself). I never attempted to get into trouble, never sought out problems, and typically associated with the right people. By the time I was in high ...

By: Thomas C. Booher Psalms 1:1, 2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. The Christian lives in a world of sin. Paul describes this age as the ‘present evil age,’ Gal 1:5. This age is inherently, intrinsically evil. It was not that way from the beginning as we know from Genesis, for God made everything good (Gen 1), and that man himself, the pinnacle of creation (Ps 8:4, 5), evoked the pronouncement of very good (Gen 1:31). There are two ways in which Edenic man was good. In the first place, Adam was good because he bore the image (Gen 1:26, 27) of One in whom goodness pervades every facet and attribute of his being. Secondly, Adam was good because of his role as subduer of the earth. He was good by virtue of his calling to discover and cultivate the potential of creation, to develop sci...

Written by Thomas F. Booher                  It is important that we who hold to the five points of Calvinism, made famous by the TULIP acronym, remember the TULIP as we continue to develop our theology. In fact, the biblical doctrines of TULIP should be the ground upon which our theology is constructed. I believe today’s growing recovery of the gospel within the churches has come because of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter along with video sites like YouTube. The ability for anyone who can afford an internet connection to send information instantly to thousands or even millions of people will make truth visible in the midst of darkness in a manner similar to Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. Except this time, most everyone has a printing press.  Truth has a way of rising above the cacophony of noise that the various philosophies of today boisterously voice, precisely because it rings true in the m...

Hello everyone, I've get some big, exciting announcements for the Tulip Driven Life. Over the last couple years that I've been posting to the TDL, there has grown a stream of supporters who have frequented the blog. It's not a large number, but it is a steady number. I have come to realize that, if this blog is ever going to have a higher ceiling, there will have to be quality, daily postings that are not overly lengthy. This is something I simply do not have time to do on my own. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that The Tulip Driven Life will now be welcoming several other bloggers who believe that the teachings of the TULIP should guide and shape our lives. So far, 4 have agreed to come on board, with two more pending. The four that have joined are: Sean Rice Nathan Fox Christopher Denman Thomas Clayton Booher (my Father). I hope to have a brief bio and perhaps a picture of each of them up in the next few days. They will each post once a week, and I to...

There was a whole theology behind the altar call. It found its origins in Charles Finney's (1792-1875) "anxious bench," where those who felt convicted to change the way they lived their lives would come forward and sit to make their intent known. Finney epitomizes the revivalist, emotionalist leaven that is sickening our nation. Indeed, many of his followers in the 19th century fell into full-blown apostasy, and Finney was quite heretical himself, denying original sin. He fed the masses the lie that they had enough goodness in themselves to desire God, His righteousness, and produce saving faith without the need for the Holy Spirit. The man practically reduced the cross of Christ to nothing but a wonderful moral example to follow, an encouragement rather than atonement. Finney himself admits to producing false converts by the droves: I was often instrumental in bringing Christians under great conviction, and into a state of temporary repentance and faith . . . . ...

The Spirit Well by Stephen Lawhead is the third book in the Bright Empires Series. Having not read the first two books in this series, I relied on previous posts from the CSFF blog tour to catch up. For background information and plot prior to this book, I refer you to my Dad's posts from the CSFF blog tour here and here . For the plot in this story, here is my Dad's post as well. What I want to focus on is the writing of Lawhead. I do not think I have ever read a work of fiction that utilizes such a wide range of vocabulary. The real genius isn't just using "big" words, but using them skillfully, and I believe Lawhead does so masterfully. Many of the words I admit I was unfamiliar with or knew only vaguely, but he placed them so well that, in context, I could grasp the gist of their meaning. This is how I knew he wasn't just going on thesaurus.com and looking up fancy words to make his vocabulary and writing prowess seem better than it is. He is able t...