I believe it was the late Joe Sobran who once said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, I’m a Republican!” In the comment thread of a recent post, after I had suggested the reform of abolishing the Department of Education, and burning all the buildings …
A Living Temple
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #28 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). Paul here uses an image he will return to later in this letter. What is striking …
Discipline and Punishment
“Some children, like certain patches of ground, are rockier than others. Such children require parents who are willing to take more pains over them. IF a farmer has two patches of ground, one of rich topsoil and the other filled with rocks, he cannot treat the two patches of ground the same way. Discipline is …
As In, No Showboating
“This is not to diminish giftedness. This is not to justify indolence. This is not an excuse for a lack of exactness. It is to say that a preacher ought never to preach in a manner that consciously draws attention to himself” (Azurdia, Spirit Empowered Preaching, p. 91).
With the File Cabinets Still In Them
One of the biggest problems that conservatives have is that of sharing the liberal view of history. They both believe the same thing is inevitable, but one is for it and the other is against it. This makes the conservative (the one against) the one who is always tagging along behind, trying to keep up …
Quite a Different Thing
“It must be understood that the preacher does not share, he declares” (Azurdia, Spirit Empowered Preaching, p. 88).
Just Sit There
“A man who desires a garden full of weeds does not need to do anything” (Beyond Stateliest Marble, p.189).
Smells Kind of Musty
I recommend this post by Justin Taylor, in which he summarizes a blogospheric debate over antinomianism. Read the whole thing. Jason Hood of CT Online began it by leaning against the notion that accusations of antinomianism are a good litmus test for whether or not you are preaching the gospel of real grace. He is …
Parenting Young People II
INTRODUCTION:The hardest thing to maintain in this unbalanced world is balance. We react, we pull away, we lurch, and we tumble. We do this in many ways. And, having heard the exhortation that we should teach our children to love the standard and, if they don’t, to lower the standard, what temptation will confront us? …
Against the Wind
We not only struggle against sin itself, but we also struggle to understand sin rightly. One of the mistakes we make about it is that we think that time spent in sin is somehow enlightening, such that, after we repent, we can teach and inform others by means of our testimony. Now God does use …