MANNY'S DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Unity in Essentials, Liberty in Non‑Essentials, Charity in Everything

Building strong bonds in 2026

It’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m sitting on the couch typing this one handed cuddling a sick 9 month old. Tiff went to meet with her mom to get the older two and I'm listening to a 10 year old debate between James White and Steve Gregg. They are debating two positions that terrify the heart of pastors all throughout Evangelicalism - Calvinism vs. Arminianism - Nearly as hair raising a conversation as hearing someone in the fellowship hall mention that Scofield invented the rapture or if someone brings up tounges,or politics. And if we’re not careful, these conversation turns into something far uglier than theology: suspicion, labels, and broken fellowship.

Back to the Calvinism discourse (I'll cover the specifics of good ol' Calvin Vs Arminian vs Molinist or Vs Provisionist in a later post). The truth is, many sincere believers fall on either side... being a hodgepodge of bapti-lutho-costals at Wyanett we have a contingent of both in our pews and sometimes we can feel the tension. The truth is scripture gives plenty of texts to support a good faith interpretation of both systems

But the fact is even in these two camps you have to walk a razors edge if you Push one system far enough and you risk flattening human responsibility. Push the other system far enough and you risk making salvation feel like it hinges on the creature more than the Creator. So what do we do with the tension?