“Dad, do we have to go to the psalm sing tonight?” “Well, it depends on what you mean by ‘have to.’ If you mean, ‘does the church require all members to attend?’ the answer is no. We can sit right here and watch the game if we like—which I suspect is the real reason for …
An Edible Oath
Our confession of faith, the Westminster Confession, describes this meal as “the sacrament of His body and blood.” The first purpose they list for the observance is the perpetual remembrance of His sacrifice on our behalf. We have already addressed this, noting that the remembrance is for both God and His people. But there is …
Brad and Nicole
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. At the beginning of the history of our race, the Lord gave us dominion over all the creatures. He told us that they were our responsibility, and this cultural mandate has never been revoked. Not only has it not been revoked, but in the …
Mock Trial Results
Once again, the Logos school mock trial teams both cleared the semi-finals at the state competition, which means they will be going up against each other in the finals. So, one way or another Logos won the state championship again, and will be going to nationals. Check it out here. And while I have your …
Bit and Bridle in One Hand, Lump of Sugar in the Other
David Bahnsen was kind enough to send me a copy of The Good of Affluence: Seeking God in a Culture of Wealth, which I began to read last night. I have really enjoyed what I have read thus far, and because it has been a while since I blogged through a book, here we go. …
Fox News Indignation
A lot of attention in this last news cycle is being rendered to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Obama. Apparently there have been cameras running when he unleashed some of his loonier sentiments, to wit, that the United States government has been actively trying to kill black people by inventing the AIDS virus. This …
Boasting is Par for the Course
The word aladzon means boaster, which is how it is rendered in Romans 1:30, in the midst of another Pauline list of sins, including, but not limited to, “backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parent . . .” And in the perilous times, Paul says, “men shall be …
Puritan Types
“Following this lead, Calvinists customarily distinguished typological meaning from allegory and all other figurative modes in scripture, identifying it as part of the full or entire or perfect literal sense — the symbolic dimension of the literal sense which, in the course of time, is uncovered and fulfilled” (Lewalski, Protestant Poetics, p. 120).
Deep Preachers
“I believe that many ‘deep’ preachers are simply so because they are like dry wells with nothing whatever in them, except decaying leaves, a few stones, and perhaps a dead cat or two” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 210).
Cool is Distant and Love Closes Distance
“Real compassion is not sexy. It is not cool. It is inefficient and painful. And it is also faith, and hope, and love. This is real church” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 107).