A friend asked me to comment on how biblical courtship applies to women who have been widowed or divorced. My understanding is that a woman who has been married, and then widowed or divorced, may (under certain circumstances) return to her father’s house. Whether she does or not is up to her, and of course …
Occupy Brawl Street
The essential characteristic that is necessary for helpful political analysis and action is not logic (though that is sometimes badly wanted), but is rather courage. The reason our liberties are eroding is because of a failure of nerve. The reason drunks on a fiscal jag have broken into your great-grandchildren’s piggy banks (in order to …
The Gospel and Thanksgiving
INTRODUCTION:The gospel is good news for everyone, and this includes all those who have already heard and believed it. The gospel is food, not just information, and so when the gospel is declared rightly it creates and reinforces true faith. The gospel does not unsettle true faith. You are a congregation of God’s people, a …
Joy and Exasperation
Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday, and it is a time—all over our nation—when people sit down to a feast with people who are dear to them, and who are also exasperating to them. This is why holidays like Thanksgiving are often filled with joy, and with tension. This is why our reunions contain both laughter …
The Gilded Rule
Perhaps we should rename the Golden Rule, and call it the Gilded Rule. What Jesus actually taught has been wrapped up and stored in the attic, while a poor substitute—which is “expect everybody to be comparatively decent”—has been plated with a flakey, golden looking substance, and placed on the mantel. And our workaround understanding of …
Like a Duck on a June Bug
Sometime in the next 24, most of you should receive an evite asking you to pre-order the next hard copy of Credenda. Jump on that evite, I say. Jump on it, like a duck on a June bug. We are within a few days of sending this baby off to the printers, and although there …
Homemade People
My daughter Rachel has a great post up at the Resurgence. It turns out that home cooking is a great idea with people too. Click here.
Of the Increase of His Government . . .
“The prophet Isaiah had more on his mind than providing feel-good quotes for our Christmas cards” (Heaven Misplaced, 14)
And Hard Wood Burns Longer Than Kleenex
“The danger of formalism is real. Prayers and sermons that are read from a manuscript are usually stiff and unnatural and artificial. But the dangers of spontaneity is also great. If the heart is without passion, it will produce lifeless, jargon-laden spontaneity. And if the heart is aflame, no form will quench it” (Piper, Brothers, …
But What If . . .
“Of course, if it is not true, then it doesn’t matter how lovely it is. We have all had some pretty good daydreams. But if it is altogether lovely, then perhaps some might be persuaded to reconsider if it might actually be true” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 11)