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Articles by Scott Aniol
How to Be Hard to Offend: Think the Best of Everyone
For every offense that genuinely has to be addressed, there are a hundred that should simply be covered. And most of us, if we are honest, have that exactly upside down. A greeting goes unreturned in the hallway. A reply comes back a single word long. A name is left off an invitation. In the half-second before you have consciously thought about it at all, your heart has already supplied a reason it happened—and if you are honest, that instant, automatic reason is almost never a generous one.
Why kids belong in worship service, not children ministry
By , Op-ed contributor I remember the Sunday driving home from church when Becky said, “Wow, I think I was able to listen to the whole sermon today.” Our kids had finally reached the age where they were able to sit still in our church’s service without needing attention. Now we’ve “started over” with two more children. There is no doubt that welcoming children into the service is difficult for parents, but I am convinced it is the best thing for the children, the parents, and the whole church.
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The Glory of Overlooking an Offense
The easily offended heart is always reaching for the spotlight. Love reaches for the blanket instead, and it does so without needing anyone else to agree the offense was real, or small, or forgivable. Love just covers it and moves on.
The Weight of Eternity
The biblical evidence is overwhelming. From the specific words of Jesus regarding “unquenchable fire” and “undying worms,” to the linguistic parallel of “eternal life” and “eternal punishment,” to the apocalyptic visions of Revelation where the smoke rises forever—Scripture consistently points to an endless state of separation. The doctrine of hell has long been the darkest and most difficult tenet of the Christian faith.
It’s good for Christians to mourn
By , Op-ed contributor If you read through the end of Genesis, you might be struck by something odd. After the grand, sweeping narratives of creation, the fall, the flood, and the patriarchs, the book slows down and dedicates over half of its final chapter to the death, mourning, and burial of one man: Jacob. Joseph weeps over his father. An elaborate, 40-day embalming process is undertaken by physicians.
It’s good for Christians to mourn - Crossmap News
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You Continue to Need Grace and Peace
Each week, our corporate worship mediates to us the grace and peace that we continually need. If you are experiencing a lack of peace in your soul, the very worst thing you could do is to stay home, away from the Lord’s Day service, yet this is exactly what so many Christians do when they go through a trial.
The King’s Life
Through his works, he displayed his power over nature, illness, demons, and even death, showing that he was the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem the world. And in doing so, he showed that he was the true King, exercising dominion over all things in a way Adam never could. Most powerfully, Jesus displayed his dominion over sin itself. His authority to forgive sins, something only God could do, established his identity as God incarnate.
Art that Accords with Sound Doctrine
What we express through an artistic medium is not just ideas abstractly stated; rather, an artistic expression is a person’s interpretation of ideas in concrete forms. Therefore, we must recognize that all cultural expression, whether produced by citizens of God’s common kingdom or citizens of God’s redemptive kingdom, embodies implied interpretations of God’s revelation.
By , Op-ed contributor Despite my many protestations (including a whole book addressing the topic), it is still quite common within Evangelical circles to equate culture and ethnicity.
Statement Regarding Steven Lawson and Trinity Bible Church
The waves of sin are often severe, and the impact is often far more broad than anyone would have imagined. In the aftershock of sin, emotions rage and disappointment presses people to assign blame. However, the blame game is a path that’s filled with many traps and snares. In recent days, various reports, articles, and podcasts were released that purported the idea that Steven Lawson was not a member of Trinity Bible Church.
God’s Servants for Our Good
Throughout history, pagans have often figured out successful legal systems that reflect biblical values because, since God designed the world to work in a certain way, those kinds of systems just work best for the order and prosperity of a society. That’s the reality of common grace politics. The truth is that in matters of the state, the only two options are not Christ or chaos.
Does Music Have Meaning?
All people—regardless of gender, ethnicity, culture, or time—are part of the “culture of humanity.” We all share similar physiological, biological, and emotional characteristics such that when music expresses emotion on that level, its meaning is universal. Christians must not fall into the trap of ignoring or even denying universal meaning in music because there are many different kinds of emotion, and not all of them are appropriate for expressing biblical truth or worshiping God.
Is it "Hyper-Cessationism" to believe that God doesn't lead through visions, dreams, and impressions?
Recently, Ryan Denton wrote an article on Reformation21 that is making a bit of a stir online titled, “What is a Hyper-Cessationist?” Denton is convinced that modern cessationism has gone beyond the cessationism of the past and “has become a thick, wet blanket used to smother anything that smacks of the supernatural.” This is what he calls “hyper-cessationism.” I’ve seen Denton label R. Scott Clarke with this moniker, and, more recently, G3.
The Masculinity Crisis
There is a masculinity crisis today, and it is not only in the secular culture—this masculinity crisis is in our churches. On the one hand, true masculinity has been severely feminized in today’s culture, which has impacted even Christian men. Modern culture celebrates androgyny, promoting ideals where traditional masculine traits are downplayed or even discouraged. Men are encouraged to embrace feminine characteristics while shunning qualities like strength and leadership.
Worship to the Glory of God Alone
We draw near to God, not presumptuously, not as if we are the ones initiating worship, not inviting God to come down and join us, not concerned with pleasing ourselves, not concerned with making worship “feel” exciting. No, we come with humility and meekness, recognizing that we do not deserve to be in God’s presence; we come only at his command and through the means that he has provided to give him the glory he deserves and to renew our gospel covenant with him.
Worship by Faith Alone
When we’re asked the question, how do you know that you’ve worshiped, we want to be able to say something like “I felt God.” I experienced his presence. But here’s what we need to remember: while we truly are in God’s presence through Christ, it is in the Spirit, and it is not yet a physical reality. It will one day be a physical reality. But that time has not yet come. We are already there spiritually, but not yet bodily.
Singing That Makes Disciples
We have unfortunately been so influenced in our churches today by the singing of pop music, which is breathy and unsupported—the very opposite of lustily and with good courage. Christians today have been taught by pop culture that if you really mean it, you’ll close your eyes, scrunch your face, sway a little, and sing in a light sensual manner. Don’t sing like that. That’s not how God created us to sing.
Seek the Things that are Above
Discipleship is impossible without the Word of Christ since Jesus said that making disciples fundamentally involves teaching them to observe all that he commanded. In order to observe Christ’s teaching, Christ’s teaching must dwell in us richly. One of the most well-known verses in all of Scripture about singing is found in Colossians 3:16.
Worship the Spirit
The Holy Spirit inspired the sufficient revelation concerning the elements of gathered worship, and so we should expect that he would naturally work through those elements—reading the Word, preaching the Word, praying the Word, singing the Word, and visualizing the Word through baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Be Filled with…Emotion?
The fact is that qualities like intensity, passion, enthusiasm, exhilaration, or euphoria are never described in Scripture as qualities to pursue or stimulate, they are never used to define the nature of spiritual maturity or the essence of worship, and they are never listed as what the Spirit produces in a believer’s life. First Corinthians 14 is clear that the central purpose of corporate worship is the disciplined formation of God’s people.
Gifting for Service: How the Spirit Gifts Today
Our response to this work of the Spirit should be clear: serve the church. Don’t worry about trying to figure out what your “spiritual gifts” are. Simply serve the church in any way you can. The Spirit has providentially gifted you to do so, so serve, and marvel at the ways the Spirit of God has uniquely gifted you to minister to others.
What Does Spirit-filling Mean?
The command here is nearly identical to Ephesians 5:18, but instead of the command being to let the Spirit fill us, the command in Colossians 3:16 is to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. The implication is that these are related concepts, and thus the content of the filling is the Word of Christ. Likely the most important truth about the Holy Spirit’s active work that we must remember is that the Holy Spirit always works through his Word.
The Holy Spirit’s most supernatural work
By , Op-ed contributor Many of the Holy Spirit’s works in history are unique in unfolding God’s eternal plan. The purpose of ordering the plans of God accomplished by the Spirit through creation, revelation, and special empowerment has been finished. Creation is complete, the Spirit-inspired Word is complete, and Spirit empowerment functioned at key transitional periods in the history of redemption that finished their intended purpose.
The Holy Spirit’s Most Supernatural Work
The Holy Spirit convicts sinners (Jn 16:8), but he does so by means of the Word he inspired, which is profitable for such conviction (2 Tm 3:16). The Holy Spirit regenerates dead hearts, but he does so by means of his Word. He does not “zap” new life in a person’s heart independently of the Word—”faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).
Testifying of Christ: The Holy Spirit’s Ordering of God’s People
God the Father has an eternal plan, God the Son accomplished the means for that plan to be fulfilled, and God the Spirit completes and perfects that plan directly in the world. Bringing harmony to creation, revealing God’s plan to his people, and special empowerment of unique leaders of God’s people at significant points in the outworking of that plan all involve how the Holy Spirit brings the plan of God into order.
The Holy Spirit’s work in creation
The first instance of the Spirit’s work appears in the opening verses of Scripture. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gn 1:1–2). On day one of creation, God created all matter, time, and space. Think about it — before the first day of creation, all that existed was the triune God. There was not matter, time, or space.
God Told Me: The Pentecostalization of Evangelical Theology of Revelation
No prophecy of Scripture comes from a human source. Rather, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (v. 21). Peter is saying that we ought to trust the sufficient Word because it is revelation from God’s Spirit that is even more sure than if he spoke to us directly. Trust the sufficient Word. It’s all we need.
Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter?
Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter? Understood as poet Christina Rosetti meant it, the answer to the question is: Yes. English poet Christina Rossetti penned the poem, originally titled “A Christmas Carol,” sometime before 1871 at the request of William James Stillman, editor of Scribner’s Monthly, where the poem was first published in January 1872.
A Pure Church
Worship in this life that is shaped by our covenant relationship with God through the gospel, the spiritual realities of heavenly worship, sanctifies us into a pure church who live in light of that relationship as we wait for our blessed hope. By reenacting what we are in Christ, Christian worshipers become what we are. Though during this present age kingdom and cultus (God’s worshiping community) are separated, God intends one day to join them together under the rule of his Anointed One.
Should worship be authentic? It depends on what you mean
One of the fundamental assumptions in modern Evangelical worship is an emphasis upon authenticity in worship. This comes in several different forms, but it often manifests itself in an insistence that whatever expressions of worship are most natural and “real” to a given worshipper are by their very nature, therefore, acceptable. The implication is also that someone can’t really worship God unless he or she is able to do so in a way that is truly “authentic” to them.
Should Worship Be Authentic? It Depends on What You Mean
One of the fundamental assumptions in modern evangelical worship is an emphasis upon authenticity in worship. This comes in several different forms, but it often manifests itself in an insistence that whatever expressions of worship are most natural and “real” to a given worshiper are by their very nature, therefore, acceptable. The implication is also that someone can’t really worship God unless he or she is able to do so in a way that is truly “authentic” to them.
If you want a pure church, your worship must also be pure
Though during this present age kingdom and cultus (God’s worshiping community) are separated, God intends one day to join them together under the rule of his Anointed One. The question for us is where we currently fit in this plan of God for a holy theocracy, a perfect union of kingdom and cultus under the kingly rule and priestly ministry of the Second Adam. The book of Hebrews addresses both kingdom and cultus in this present age.
Call for Papers
We are accepting submissions for the next issue of our peer-reviewed journal, Gloria Deo Journal of Theology, due to be released Spring, 2024. The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2023. Articles for the journal should be about 5,000 to 15,000 words and should be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief. Articles follow Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018) for proper stylistic format.
Interpreting terrible atrocities on Earth with heavenly lens
When we witness terrible atrocities on earth, we must interpret them in light of the heavenly reality. Heaven is a palace from which God rules sovereign over all, and heaven is a temple where he is worshiped as he ought. This is the reality. How, then, do these visions of God in his heavenly palace/temple impact our understanding of what happens here on earth?
Transcript: Interview with Scott Aniol on Christian Nationalism
David Schrock: Today, we’re sitting down with executive vice president of G3 Ministries and the author of Citizens and Exiles, Scott Aniol, and we’re discussing his book and how it relates to the project of Christian nationalism. So Scott, welcome to Christ Over All. Scott Aniol: Thank you so much for having me. David Schrock: Glad to have you here, brother. And back to discuss these matters of Christian nationalism, for and against and all of that, Steve Wellum. Good to have you, brother.
How Valuable Is Bodily Training?
Bodily training does have some value, because God created the body and he will one day redeem the bodies of his people—but what will bring about the redemption of our bodies one day in the life to come is not bodily training. Our bodies are only part of who we are. When God formed Adam’s body, he breathed into Adam’s body the breath of life, and man became a living soul. We are not only physical, we are also spiritual. Should Christians care about their bodies?
How much emphasis should Christians place on bodily exercise?
Should Christians care about their bodies? How much emphasis should we place upon bodily exercise? Some professing Christians in past history have argued that the body is bad — we don’t need to give attention to the body, we just need to focus on spiritual things. But notice what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:8: “Bodily training is of some value.” Don’t read that and think Paul is saying bodily training is worthless; he’s not. He is acknowledging here that bodily training does have some value.
Why Christian Faithfulness?
Our lives in society ought not to be characterized by trying to get ahead, trying to advance our own agenda, or trying to do what’s best for us; our goal in society ought to be to submit ourselves to the needs of others—submit to governing authority, submit to our employer, submit to the needs of others in our families. Why is it so important to have our motivation right about how we live in society?
Christ’s Commission to His Church
We are responsible to make disciples, but Christ will build his church. And he will do so until the end of the age, when he comes again in glory to unite the two kingdoms into one perfect eternal kingdom. Churches as formal, local institutions have been given a very specific, singular mission in this age, best articulated in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19–20.
Decent and Orderly Corporate Worship
Corporate worship is corporate worship, not individual worship. Corporate worship is for believers, not unbelievers. Corporate worship has the primary purpose of edification, not merely expression. Corporate worship accomplishes edification through order, not disorder. Corporate worship should be biblically-regulated, not unregulated.
Worship Regulated by Scripture
The critical point is to extend biblical authority to every aspect of our worship—elements, content, structure, and aesthetics: If we understand the formative role of corporate worship in making disciples, and if we consequently recognize that such disciple-forming corporate worship must be formed by Scripture, then we must be sure that our liturgies and how we express God’s truth aesthetically in corporate worship are similar in meaning to how Scripture expresses God’s truth.
The Reformation of Worship
Home/Biblical and Theological/The Reformation of Worship The Reformation of Worship The first solution to problems in both medieval and contemporary worship is to submit to the authority of God’s Word over worship.
Foundations of Biblical Worship
The similarities of heavenly worship between Isaiah’s vision and John’s vision reveal that this is eternal worship, the reality of heavenly worship as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Ordaining Female Pastors Harms the Mission: A Response to Rick Warren
Recently there has been a lot of talk about the importance of focusing on the church’s mission. That’s good as far as it goes—we’ve been given a mission by Jesus to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19), and so we ought to continually commit to that mission and find ways to join with others as we seek to fulfill that mission together. However, the specific talk about the importance of mission I’m referring to comes from Rick Warren.
A Review of Mere Christendom by Doug Wilson
When Stephen Wolfe’s book The Case for Christian Nationalism first came out, I picked up a copy, read the first third of the book, and then decided that it wasn’t really relevant to me at the time. I had written and taught about the biblical relationship between Christianity and culture for over a decade, had fairly firm convictions on the matter, and recognized quickly that I disagreed theologically with Wolfe’s proposal.
Watson’s Recipe for Repentance
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” —2 Corinthians 7:10 Thomas Watson was a seventeenth-century Puritan pastor whose works are still read today. His books include The Great Gain of Godliness, The Godly Man’s Picture, and A Body of Practical Divinity to name a few.
Why do we think new is better?
New and improved! Fresh! The latest! Exciting! You don’t have to go far in our society today to witness claims of having the newest, latest product. One would not think of buying something old, stale, and “so yesterday.” This applies to commercial products that are marketed by clever advertisers, but, unfortunately, it also often applies to church ministry, theology, and worship. Old is bad, and new is good.
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