“Since the idea of divine impotence in effect un-gods God, not many of us have taken this route. But in this effeminate age, some professing Christians are now trying it, and they call their explanation the ‘openness of God.’ God troubleshoots as we go, but He actually does not do it very well. In this …
Indispensable Courage
“Courage . . . is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry . . . If you are afraid of men and a slave to their opinions, go and do something else. Go and make shoes to fit them” (Phillips Brooks, as quoted in Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 300).
Cutting the Baby in Two
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #53 “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, …
Faith or Presumption in Child Rearing?
Because of the condition of our sinful world, words from God’s law are frequently “hard words.” But, for the same reason, but in a different sense, words of gospel and promise are even harder. In my books on family, I have often emphasized that the rearing of godly children is not accomplished “by works,” but …
And Not All Bone Boxes Either
“Why do you halt between two opinions? Atheism not only casts doubt upon the idea of a benevolent God (which it certainly does) but it also destroys the very concept of benevolence itself. Benevolence is simply a chemical reaction that some organisms experience in their bone box” (Letter From a Christian Citizen, pp. 58-59).
Making Sermons Shorter the Hard Way
“It depends on the occasion and the topic, on the preacher’s gift and the congregation’s maturity . . . ‘The true way to shorten a sermon,’ said H.W. Beecher, ‘is to make it more interesting'” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 292).
Although the Same Point Remains
Over the years I have told (or written about) an anecdote involving Bishop Fulton Sheen and his editor, in an exchange over whether Heaven and Hell should be upper or lower case, with the bishop maintaining that they should be because “they’re places. You know, like Scarsdale.” Well, today, I ran across something that revealed …
Ron Paul, Enemy of Liberty
Let me say at the outset that I don’t know who I will vote for when the primary campaign finally wends its way to Idaho. The field will no doubt be a bit different, and we likely know a good bit more about the candidates, probably a bit more than we wanted to know. I …
No Relation
It is sometimes hard for us to grasp how profound the problem of modern superficiality is. Religious life in America is, by and large, superficial from the very top of the wet spot on the pavement to the very bottom of the wet spot on the pavement. We are, of course, talking about Joel Osteen. …
Cleaning Smudged Mirrors
When we finally behold Jesus Christ in His fullness and glory, we will be like Him fully—for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). That is when the capstone is placed at the top of the new Temple, that is when the work in finally and completely finished. But God is no …