“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #122 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you” (1 Cor. 11:1-2). Paul …
Completely Full
“Radavic couldn’t quite catch what he was saying, but Bradford could see the prosecutor’s neck get bigger. He had never seen a neck so full of righteousness” (Evangellyfish, p. 197).
God is the Absolute
“In other words, debates over the lawfulness of divorce are likely to produce a good deal of logic- and text-chopping — and this can happen in both directions. Men and women who want to absolutize marriage run into trouble, and men and women who want to relativize it run into trouble as well. Marriage is …
Churn, Church Splits, and the Cross of Christ
A preacher’s task is to declare the cross of Christ in such as way as that it deals with sin. The death of Jesus was the place where God brought the issue of sin to closure. The death of Jesus in a sermon is intended to be the place where that same closure is brought …
When the Glory Diminished
“Bradford watched in fascination as Radavic pulled open the thick wooden courtroom door and walked in, the embodiment of civic duty. After the glory subsided somewhat, three reporters followed him in” (Evangellyfish, p. 197).
Which Is Not Good
“If you have not lived in your marriage with honest confession of sin, then the chances are good that you have the marital equivalent of a garage that has not been cleaned out for twenty years” (For a Glory and a Covering, p. 98).
The Bucket or the Well
“If one merely scrapes together thoughts around a subject, so as to make a sermon, then every sermon consumes part of his material, and leaves him poorer. But if he habitually penetrates into a subject and masters it, every sermon leaves him richer” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, pp. 125-126).
A Reasonable Expectation
One of things we need to do in our discussion of family qualifications for ministry is examine some of our background assumptions. As with many other issues, our understanding of Paul’s requirement here (1 Tim. 3:2-5; Tit. 1:5-6) is affected not only by what the text clearly says, but by the eyes we bring to …
The Turtle On the Fencepost
As providence would have it, last night I read the next chapter of Coyne’s book in order to mull over it a bit before writing my next post. And then this morning, as is my practice, I spend some time reading through any magazines that have accumulated during the course of the week. And, as …
Managing Mammon
Jesus set up a fundamental antipathy between God and Mammon. One way or the other, He said (Matt. 6:24). In another place, He said quite plainly that whoever does not give away all His possession cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). Look at your possessions, Jesus says, and if you want to be a disciple, …