Stopping to Think

Will Dole
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Thoughts on the Bible, theology, culture, books, and whatever else is making me think willdole.substack.com

  1. 4D AGO

    Everlasting Life

    This post is part of a series of communion mediations working through the Apostles’ Creed. You can read the creed here. The Life Everlasting. As we come to the end of our meditations on the Creed, we come to what is, in one sense, the easiest part to explain. The belief in everlasting life is, after all, the whole point of Christianity. The apostle Paul 1 Corinthians 15:19 that, If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. He was not exaggerating. If there is no hope, no life, beyond this one, then the Christian gospel is not simply foolishness—it’s a damnable lie. It’s a waste of time for those who believe, and a song of wickedness on the lips of those who preach it. But Paul’s point in that chapter, and the very drumbeat of the Scriptures is that our hope is not simply tied to this life. There is everlasting life to come. This is, in fact, what we were made for as human beings. God created us in His image, and fashioned us in such a way that we can and are meant to know him, to love him, and commune with him. But our father Adam ruptured that union through disobedience. And, standing there as our representative, in Adam’s fall we sinned all. Each and every one of us is now born with a sinful human nature, by nature children of wrath and enemies of God. But, in the Lord Jesus, God was reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). If you repent of your sins and trust in the sufficient work of Jesus on your behalf, God does not count your sins against, but instead clothes you in the righteous life of the Lord Jesus Himself. And in that union, you are also promised a Resurrection like his, which leads to—you guessed it—an eternal life like his. You are, as we spoke about in 1 John, knit into the Divine Life and promised an eternity of Joy in the presence of the Lord. A life more free, full, and forever than our minds are capable of comprehending. And friends, this is why we celebrate the Supper. We are reminding ourselves, once again, of the work of Christ in the past which effected our redemption. We look back to his death—and subsequent resurrection—and see it as the source of our forgiveness, our hope, our joy, and life. He came—and died—that we might have life, both abundant and eternal. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min

  2. FEB 2

    Banks and Reefers

    Becoming Your Own Banker R. Nelson Nash This is the second time I’ve read Nash’s book. I first picked it up after being introduced to the infinite banking concept by a financial planner. Nelson’s work is deeply counter-intuitive, especially if your intuition is Dave Ramsey-inflected. The conventional wisdom on life insurance is to buy as much as you can for as cheap as you can, and then invest. For this strategy, term life is the only option. But Nash advocates—strongly—for cash-value whole life. His argument centers around the idea that your need for finance is far greater, over the course of your life, than the need for life insurance. And purchasing a relatively small whole life policy and overfunding it with the “over” payments going to paid-up riders basically allows you to turbo-charge your savings, creating a pool of your own money from which you can access necessary capital. Hence, you become your own bank. Need a car? Don’t take a bank loan. Take a loan against your policy, and then—here comes the key—pay it back at market interest. By doing this, you are capturing the profit of financing, rather than the finance company doing so. I find Nash’s concept compelling. The math is hard to argue—half the book is spreadsheets!—I think most of the critics I’ve read online haven’t really digested his argument. But this clearly is meant to be a long-term strategy. Which is part of what I find convincing (Prov 13:11).​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Devoured by Cannabis Douglas Wilson A clear, succinct argument as to why Cannabis use is categorically different from alcohol use, and why society should treat the two substances differently. Wilson argues the obvious: the #1 only use for recreational pot—mind distortion and alteration—is the one use prohibited to consumers of alcohol in Scripture (drunkenness). Therefore, marijuana is biblically off-limits. He makes short work of favorite stoner verses—“every green herb” means eat your salad, not smoke a joint. The most carefully reasoned part of the book, and useful for strengthening my thought process, was his case for why society has a right to protect itself from the likely effects of drug use. Again, it’s analogous to drunkenness. Do drunk drivers make it home safely most of the time? Sure do. They’re still far more likely than a sober driver to harm themselves and others. So we censure that behavior. Why? Society has a right—a collective responsibility even—to prohibit that kind of risk-taking. Likewise, THC alters the minds of users (especially the young) in a way that increases the likelihood of mental health problems, makes it more difficult to regulate your emotions in socially healthy ways, and—to return to our drunkenness comparison—impairs motor ability. These risks are borne by society as a whole, not merely the individual. This reality means that as weed laws liberalize, we should not see it as an expansion of freedom, but of bondage, and frankly, societal disintegration. (Someone needs to write a similar book for mobile gambling.) Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    7 min

  3. JAN 26

    The Resurrection of the Dead

    This post is part of a series of communion mediations working through the Apostles’ Creed. You can read the creed here. You will see in the text that this was given December 7th, 2025, which was the second Sunday of the Advent season. As we approach the end of the Creed, we come today to the resurrection of the body. Does that seem out of place in the Advent season? Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, and you may ask, do we really need an Easter topic for today’s communion meditation? But I don't think there is a more appropriate time, to address this subject. The Second Sunday of Advent is traditionally devoted to the topic of peace. What is the clearest sign that there is not peace between God and this earth, between God and humanity? It's the presence of death, the first sentence passed upon sin. Jesus, in his first advent, came to remove both the power and the penalty of sin. At the cross he absorbed the wrath of God against our sin; and for those who have trusted in him, he gives them the Holy Spirit, and they are no longer bound by its power. He removed the power and penalty of sin, and in doing so, he defanged death. Where is thy sting? Where is thy victory? Paul cries out in 1 Corinthians 15, to death and the grave. If I am in Christ, then my sins are forgiven. If I am in Christ, I do not need to fear death—nor need I fear the death of those I love, if they are in Christ. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, that we do not grieve as those who have no hope. So Jesus has defanged death in his first coming. But salvation for our souls, as crucial and central and foundational as that is, is not our whole hope. It’s not all that Jesus has done and is doing. No, when our Lord returns a second time, when he comes in a Second Advent, he comes to remove death completely, including the death that our bodies now experience. This, where we live now, between the two advents of Christ, is a place where we can have real salvation and real freedom from the fear of death. But we are not free from the experience of death. We are not free from its presence in our lives. Paul says, again, in 1 Corinthians 15, that it is the last enemy to be defeated. But when Jesus returns, death will be defeated finally. We won’t just be disembodied spirits. In our popular conception of heaven, we tend to hold two separate and contradictory notions, both of which are wrong. We often think of disembodied spirits, and we also think of something like babies floating on clouds with harps. Those are different things—but either one pictures a very boring, ethereal existence. And that’s not the biblical picture of life post-second coming of Christ. We often turn to Revelation 21, where we are told that the Lord God will dwell there, in the New Heavens and Earth, with his people. He will be our God, and we will be His people, and he will dwell in the midst of us. And what won’t be there? There will be no more death, no more tears, no more mourning. And we will be there, according to 1 Corinthians 15, with resurrection bodies. Spiritual bodies. Not spiritual in the sense of less real, but rather, bodies that are more real than the bodies that we have right now. A body like Christ’s. That's the Resurrection Hope that we confess when we confess the Creed. That one day, we will have bodies that are more substantial, more real than this right now. So confessing the Resurrection of the body, we remembering the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ. His makes our resurrection not merely a hope, but a certainty. And that is supremely appropriate on a day here, during advent, as we celebrate the Lord and what he did for us. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    6 min

  4. JAN 19

    A Healthy Marriage

    A Healthy Marriage: A Biblical Introduction You can buy the book in Kindle, paperback, or hardcover formats here: https://a.co/d/9SoRMOZ Thanks for reading Stopping to Think! This post is public so feel free to share it. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    3 min

  5. JAN 12

    Enterprise

    Most of the poems lately have taken inspiration from the chapter headings in JI Packer’s book, “Concise Theology.” This one is not different, however, the approach to the subject is heavily influenced by David Bahnsen, as well. Enterprise: The Source of Order and Prosperity One mina, five mina, to another, tenThis is the way that the world has always been Talents to all, in proper measure giv’nGrace poured on us from the kind God in heaven What will you do with this stewardship below—Store it in the ground, or a true profit show? The gifts of work and enterpriseAre oft so easy to despise But with what folly we discardThe source of meaning, Though its hard We ought to see work as a gift—Through it God makes the chaos lift. Available for pre-order now: You can click on the link-above to pre-order the Kindle version of A Healthy Marriage. It will also release in paperback and hardcover on January 19th. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    3 min

  6. JAN 8

    What’s Wrong with the World

    What’s Wrong With The World? G.K. Chesterton, 1910. Audiobook read by Wade Stotts G.K. Chesterton wrote this book in 1910. But Dale Ahlquist quips that, “there is good evidence that it was actually written today.” I concur with that assessment. In this book, Chesterton attacks a number of the wrong-headed notions that were current in England prior to the World Wars. In a stark illustration of Ecclesiastes 1:9, we find that much of the same muddled thinking runs wild in our 21st century American streets. Of the many examples, one most worth highlighting—and remembering—is his way of dismantling feminism. Feminists old and new insist that women can and should do anything a man can do; and succeed in turning her into a third rate man while removing from her the joys of domesticity and femininity. But conveniently for the men, women still have those feminine duties which sense and custom dictate to her, given man’s ill-fit for them. This means that she is more tired and worn out and feeling torn in multiple directions than ever. But, alas, such is the price of liberation. This plays into his critique of capitalism—or, at least, crony capitalism—which wants women in the workforce not because of magnanimous public spirit (women’s advancement!), but to force down wage values. It’s similar to the protectionist critique of too much immigration today. Chesterton’s pathological hatred of Calvinism is also all over this book, which I find annoying, but I can get past that for the otherwise abundant great humor and good sense.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Highly recommended. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    5 min

  7. 12/29/2025

    Prayer

    Prayer The One in Three approach His glory Behold His Splendor may my heart render Praise Sinful heart and hands from your Presence banned until I’m made clean inner truth been seen Confess Joy! Your mercy is more My heart shall adore Bless Your Name Above give for steadfast love Thanks With Your word fill me and let my speech be A Word in season Guard me from treason I pray. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    2 min

  8. 12/24/2025

    A Christmas Prayer

    Our town has an annual “Olde Fashioned Christmas” celebration each year at the beginning of December. Local clergy rotate offering a prayer, leading Christmas carols, and “blessing” the tree. This year I had the blessing. I think it’s silly to bless a tree and so, when it’s my turn for the blessing, I fudge a little and usually pray for God’s blessing on the community, and offer a reminder of the Gospel, with some thoughts about how a tree might draw our minds in that direction. Anyhow, I did that in the form of a responsive reading this year, which I’ll share here for your Christmas Eve reading. May it be edifying to you, and may you experience the Lord’s blessing on you this Christmas season. Bless us the Christmas We are gathered tonight around our community Christmas tree. Trees play a pivotal role in the biblical story, from the opening chapters of Genesis, all the way through to the final chapter of the final book, Revelation. So in this responsive reading we will rehearse some of that history, and consider how our minds can be drawn to Christ and his work when we look at this tree. After each statement or petition I read, please respond together, “Bless us this Christmas.” Father God, who created the world out of nothing, Bless us this Christmas Creator God, who caused the earth to bring forth life, Bless us this Christmas Loving God, who made mankind in your own image, Bless us this Christmas Providing God, who blessed our first parents with the fruit of every tree—save one, Bless us this Christmas Merciful God, who judged our parents for their sin, but also promised a Redeemer, Bless us this Christmas Jealous God, who hates our sin, and desires our pure worship, Bless us this Christmas Speaking God, who sent your prophets with messages of judgement and salvation, Bless us this Christmas Saving God, who sent your eternal Son into the world, Bless us this Christmas Glad God, who sent an angelic choir to herald the Incarnation, Bless us this Christmas Holy God, whose Son made atonement for our sin upon the Tree, Bless us this Christmas Just God, who accepts Jesus’ work, and gave him resurrection, Bless us this Christmas Adopting God, who gives those who trust in Jesus the status of your children, Bless us this Christmas Gracious God, who sends his Spirit and grants salvation, Bless us this Christmas Redeeming God, who gives eternal life to those who trust your promises, Bless us this Christmas We ask, oh God, that as we see this tree, that we would remember the coming of Jesus, and his for us upon that tree on Calvary, where he purchased our salvation. Grant each one here the faith to trust in his finished work, and the assurance that they will one day be gathered with him around the Tree of Life. Together we pray, Bless us this Christmas. Amen. Stopping to Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit willdole.substack.com/subscribe

    4 min
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About

Thoughts on the Bible, theology, culture, books, and whatever else is making me think willdole.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Will Dole
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Will Dole
  • Show Website
    Stopping to Think