For a few years now one of my side hobbies has been that of defending and/or explaining The Pilgrim’s Progress. For various reasons, modern Christians have taken it into their heads to feel very superior to it, I can’t really explain why. Our generation has a very cordial dislike of allegory, but the medievals were …
For a Glory and a Covering
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #126 “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man” (1 Cor. 11:7). There are several issues here that …
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Parents Playing God
Not surprisingly, there are objections to this position I have been urging about the minister’s qualification in his family. One of the more potent arguments is that this position presupposes that the father somehow has salvific powers, which runs counter to what we know the Bible teaches about the sovereignty of grace. Only God can …
A Minister’s Family As Pace Car
I have mentioned that we should begin any attempt to institute familial qualifications for the eldership with children who have been excommunicated. We could begin here for pragmatic reasons (we have to start somewhere), but I want to argue that there are exegetical grounds for having this be the place where we draw the basic …
Divided in Two
Introduction In the previous chapter, David showed covenant kindness (hesed) to a prince who had lost his father, which is what happens in this chapter also. In the previous chapter, it was received with loyalty and deep gratitude. In this chapter, it starts a war. The Text: “And it came to pass after this, that …
Street Violence and the Father
In the last several weeks, our attention has been drawn, through several high profile murder cases, to the kind of violence that fatherlessness engenders. The violence is senseless, just as the condition of fatherlessness is itself senseless. God created us to live in a particular way, and when we refuse to do so, more and …
The Exit May Be Behind You
The Puritan William Bridge once said that whenever Satan builds a temptation, God is sure to build a door in the side of it. This is a great and wonderful truth, but we must not be simplistic in our attempts to grasp it. As the flight attendants always remind us, in case of an emergency …
Challenging a Young Man’s Ten Assumptions
This is a rough outline of remarks I gave to the young men of New St. Andrews. Those of you who have been here for a while know that we strive to live in community in a way that cultivates a garden of grace. We know that law doesn’t have the power to enable you …
Getting Feet Under the Table
“This is all glorious, but let’s make it practical — let’s get our feet under the table. How does all this apply to marriage? Remember, first ‘male and female created he them,’ and then, in that particular context, God blessed, charged, and fed them. And in this biblical context, we need to realize that if …
But Words Are More Than a Flatbed
“The aversion some have to homiletics, I have discovered, is only a symptom of a bigger issue. The basis of their aversion is that they are convinced that the content of the sermon is far more important than the method of delivery. For some it is all important — so important that it does not …