“Cheese is at once a testament to the Creator’s ingenuity in providing enzymes and bacteria that will do fearful and wonderful things for milk and to man’s audacity in the face of some pretty forbidding stuff. The blander varieties, of course, are hardly more alarming than milk itself; but the farther reaches of the subject …
Sin Alienates
The word apallotrioo refers to alienation. In conjunction with another word, it is rendered as “be alienated,” and by itself as “be alien. All of the scriptural uses are in Paul, and he uses to describe the condition of those who are strangers to God. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your …
Sermons, Not Essays
“Do you not think that many sermons are ‘prepared’ until the juice is crushed out of them, and zeal could not remain in such dry husks? . . . You will never get a crop if you plant boiled potates. You can boil a sermon to a turn, so that no life remaineth in it …
Plot Dragging a Little? Add Explosions!
“However, we find in drama today, and for my purpose specifically in film, two significant changes that were somewhat rare in our culture fifty years ago. First, the ethics of the hero’s action is now morally relativistic. And second, spectacle, or what Aristotle called ‘scenic effects,’ has upstaged all other dramatic elements” (Arthur Hunt, The …
What Balance Means
Balance is very difficult for us as Christians to maintain. But balance in worship, balance in doctrine, balance in good deeds, and balance in individual practice, are nevertheless required. At the same time, balance is to be defined according to the Word, and not according to the moderate nervousness the world has about religious things. …
Chased into a Minefield
You have asked me how it is possible to have a rebellious and out-of-control son when you have not ever thought of yourself as an indulgent father. You are right to see that radical indulgence on the part of a father is a disaster for sons — boys need direction, counsel, admonition, and correction. Of …
Rape and Incest Exceptions
One of the things I have learned as a pastor is that as a church grows and matures, the minister cannot assume that everybody is up to speed on something just because he “preached a sermon series” on that a little while before. It was probably more like five years before, and half the people …
Just a Little Favor?
Starting tomorrow, my debate with Christopher Hitchens is supposed to be placed in the front of all the Barnes & Noble stores around the country. I think there are about 700 hundred locations. So if you are out and about tomorrow, running errands or whatnot, could you please do me a favor? Could you just …
Neck Deep in Shoes
The last chapter of Cavanaugh’s book deals with scarcity and abundance. The juxtaposition of the two is set up (as he discusses it) in the contrast between scarcity as the driving force of free market economics, and the abundance of Christ as displayed in the Lord’s Supper. “The idea of scarcity assures that the normal …
Three Cheers for Anglicans, the Kind Who Believe the Bible
I need to pass on the word about a new theological journal — The North American Anglican. I know that a number of you probably ought to be thinking about their first issue, the table of contents for which can be found here. Some sample articles are here, and you can subscribe here. I know …