The word apate refers to deceit and deceitfulness. One of the remarkable things about Scripture’s use of this word is that the majority use concerns the deceitfulness of sin, and not deceitfulness as sin. There is of course Christ’s reference to the deceitfulness of riches in His parable. “He also that received seed among the …
And Where Is He In Your Preaching?
“In forming your system of astronomy, where do you put the sun? If you are not clear on that cardinal matter, your scheme will be a failure. If you have not found out the true ‘tabernacle for the sun,’ I am not very particular as to where you put Mars or Jupiter. Where is Christ …
Sex, Violence, and a Grand Identity
“Paganism can take a variety of forms, but when all is said and done, the system boils down to three simple postulates—sex, violence, and a grand identity . . . For four centuries the Protestants tried to hold them back, but the dam was breached. The gods are back in town” (Arthur Hunt, The Vanishing …
The Power of Imitation
“He should also be taught what the atmosphere of married life was intended by God to be. The best thing godly parents can do here is provide the children with several decades of viewing consistent Christian living within marriage — in the home in which they were born. The value of this is inestimable. The …
The Wall Street Wastrels
My friend and congressman, Bill Sali, voted against the 700 billionout package, and I would like to spend just a few minutes telling you why I am glad about that. About a third of the Democrats voted against it, and about two thirds of the Republicans did, and a well done to the Republicans thus …
Holiness
Holiness is a glorious perfection belonging to the nature of God, hence he is in Scripture styled often the Holy One, the Holy One of Jacob, the Holy One of Israel, and oftener entitled Holy than Almighty, and set forth by this part of his dignity more than by any other (Stephen Charnock) In a …
Rejoicing in Gluten
“There are few actions you will ever take that have more of the stuff of history in them. A woman with her sleeves rolled up and flour on her hands is one of the most gorgeous stabilities in the world. Don’t let your family miss the sight” (Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb, …
Basic Deception
The word apatao means to deceive, and is used four times in the New Testament. The first is in Ephesians. “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6). The kind of vanity in view here is the vanity …
Dried to Death
“So long as the life of the sermon is strengthened by preparation, you may prepare to the utmost; but if the soul evaporates in the process, what is the good of such injurious toil? It is a kind of murder which you have wrought upon the sermon which you have dried to death” (Charles Spurgeon, …
Paganism at the Movies
“The cult of celebrity fills a religious hole dug by modernism . . . The machines of show business brought the gods back to life . . . Images are pervasive, emotionally captivating, and . . . dare I say it? Sacred . . . This is what it means to be a pagan. Our …