As we approach our God in worship, we do not come empty-handed. Our custom is to have the offering box in the back, near the entrance, where the offerings are placed as we come into church in order to worship God. This is, incidentally, the same set-up that the Temple in Jerusalem had. It is …
You Can Deal With It Here
We must never forget that this meal is a meal, designed to nourish us, and given to us for that purpose and end. The bread and the wine are given to strengthen, build up, and fortify you. This is God’s dining room in the first instance, and not a medical clinic. But God’s food is …
Talking About Cromwell Instead
Thabiti has written a kind-hearted piece about how to deal with the “crazy Confederate uncles” of the extended Reformed family. Having dealt with some of the crazies that are out there, I believe that in some respects Thabiti is being too kind, while in other respects he is not being kind enough. And that is …
Which Means That a Star is More Than We Think It Is
“If the narrative is to be trusted (and for evangelicals, it must be), then the star of Bethlehem identified a particular house in Bethlehem, singling it out from the others, in order that the magi would know what door to knock on. Now Bethlehem was only about six miles away from Jerusalem. Imagine trying to …
On Knowing Where You Have to Land
“The preacher, of all men, should study the common mind, and seek fully to understand, not only its forms of expression, but, what is still more important, its ways of thinking” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 210).
Full Tilt Out There Living
Christianity Today just announced the winners of their 2014 Book Awards. We are very grateful to God for the fact that Nate’s recent book Death By Living won the award in their Spirituality category. Just fun all around. We are grateful to God, knowing that all such things are a gift from Him, and at …
Deeper Grace
“God’s grace is a tsunami that will carry us all away, and deposit us in places we would not have anticipated — and all of them good. We analyze all this carefully, and say that we want our grace to be genuine water, just like the tsunami, but we want it to be a placid …
A Purpose Driven Book Review
I won’t go into it now, but as a result of a series of odd events, I decided that at some point I needed to read a book by Rick Warren. I had picked up a copy of his Purpose Driven Life at a used bookstore, and despite the fact that California evangelical megachurch land …
Grace Got Loose
“Grace is not something we do. Grace is not something we can control. Grace is not something we can manage. And this means that we in the Church, particularly in the sola gratia wing of the Reformed church, need to recognize that curators of grace are frequently the most dangerous enemies of grace. Grace is …
Photogenic Lies
For a bit of balance on the issues raised on the passing of Nelson Mandela, I would send you here and here. If you sow the wind, sometimes you reap the whirlwind. Apartheid, a system of injustice established by Reformed Christians, was the wind. A significant part of the whirlwind is that we are beyond …