“Jesus says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). Is our speech a fresh water spring or a sewage pipe?”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 18
Four Challenges
“That said, let’s break down inappropriate speech (in English) to four basic categories. These are vulgarity, obscenity, cursing, or swearing. The problem for the Platonists is that there are godly examples of all four categories found within the pages of Scripture. The problem for the libertines is that the Bible prohibits speaking in all four categories. The upshot is that we need to become far more disciplined in how we speak.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 13
Virginal Daughters
“Christians are called as parents to bring up virginal daughters, not so that we may delude ourselves into thinking that this is what we are by nature, but rather that we might understand through faith that this is what we are all becoming. Virginity and chastity among a Christian people are a glorious type, not of what we are, but of what we will be.”
Gunfights and Blonde Trouble
“If you see a movie with a desolate Western town around midday, with shopkeepers peering out their windows, and tumbleweed blowing down the street, you know there is going to be a gunfight. If you see a man in an office with a ceiling fan, smoking, and a translucent pane of glass in the door, and he has his feet on the desk you know instantly that he is a private detective, and that some blonde trouble is going to come through the door. Given the motif, you know the setting. You are oriented.”
The Scarlet Cord
“The scarlet cord of election was transferred—from Zarah’s wrist to a prostitute’s window. This is so that we might never forget that everything God gives us is always all of grace, nothing but grace, grace to the uttermost.”
A Riot of Joy
A Riot of Joy
“But when they arrived at the grave, they found they had stumbled into a glorious pandemonium—angels, an earthquake, and a risen Jesus gone missing.”
Dabbing Won’t Do
“More than one person has gone off to Hell dabbing at their sins, and sometimes picking at them. Repentance, real repentance, goes right to the heart of everything.”
Emotions in Conflict
Emotions in Conflict
“After all, who does not know of someone who considers himself to be a total waste of skin, and yet is angry with others for not dropping everything on his behalf.”
Unjust and Just
“You look at the cross and you see an unjust condemnation. But when you step into the cross by faith, what happens? Now it is a just condemnation. I have been crucified with Christ, Paul says (Gal. 2:20). The cross was unjust because Jesus was on it, but it is entirely just because I am there too. Oh, the wisdom of God!”
A Package Deal
“The whole world runs on accusation, so friendship with the world is friendship with that system of accusation.”