One objection to the exhortation to cultivate a “biblical” approach to music is that we don’t have musical notation from biblical times. We have the lyrics of the psalms, but not the music. Here, in brief, are my staccato responses. First, there is a good argument that we do have an idea of what the …
Not Counting the Barnacles
Okay, I am a Protestant. I get that. This is why I believe there are many things wrong with the papacy, and that is not even counting the barnacles. But hope springs eternal, and every time a new pope is selected, a lot of people — including Protestants who should know better — start yearning …
Nun of That
“We might think of these widows as Protestant nuns. As best as I can make out, the early church enrolled widows (of a certain character) who were over the age of sixty, and the church expected ministerial service from them. If they departed from this service into idleness, it was a disgrace. If they married …
To Curvet and Simper in the Pulpit
The sodomy challenge — and all related sexuality challenges — present us with a glorious opportunity. It is a glorious opportunity that the Spirit has cleverly disguised as a real hazard to our future comfort and well-being. For the gospel is a troublemaker. Let me explain that first and then come back to the sodomy …
Please Pass This One Around . . .
You old Kansas fans might recognize the voice.
Crown of the Argument
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #129 “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of …
Simply Beowulf
Well, I have to admit that I am kind of whipped up about our pending release of Beowulf. This was a project I was kind of chipping away on in the background, and then the need for a usable version for the new Logos Press curriculum arose. So I got things in gear, and finished …
Not in View
In the area surrounding 1 Peter 3:10, the apostle Peter gives a wonderful set of exhortations on keeping your lips from speaking evil, and your mouth from telling lies. His section on avoiding a life of deceitfulness is a quotation from the Psalms (Ps. 34:13). But for those who are over-scrupulous about such things — …
Don’t Waste Your Shake Up
If we adopt the policy I am suggesting in the larger church — that of asking elders and ministers to step down if their children are excommunicate (or the moral equivalent) — this solves some problems, but not all of them. It actually creates a few interesting problems. One interesting problem it could create is …
David as Patsy
Introduction This tragic story follows immediately after the David and Bathsheba tragedy. Details and names change, but we have a beautiful woman, fulfilled lust, and then murder. The Text: “And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of …