In an earlier post, I used the phrase “God-centered,” and there was at least one challenge that concerned what I meant by it. Let me have a quick go at explaining. First, let me note what I do not mean. I do not some form of Stoicism, where we try to pretend that how it …
Pulpit Presence
“He looked severe enough that no one really noticed that he was not severe at all, and this meant that no one had a conscience attack or felt like they were going soft in their Calvinism because he always looked like he was being strict with them. So things were swell at Grace Reformed” (Evangellyfish, …
Which Would Be Pleasant
“Man can name what God has done, but man cannot get God to name what man has done, or is trying to do, in his own name. Legislatures or courts can decree that men can now start marrying men, and those institutions can also, while they are at it, decree that water will start flowing …
The One Who Bled
I recently received a letter from a student who was struggling in his faith, and the crux of the struggle was how the love of God, as described in the Bible, could be reconciled with some of the choices of God, as described in the Bible. There are many examples of this problem, so let …
All Grace, No Slack
“The sermons were of the ‘all grace, no slack’ variety, and more than a few worshippers were concerned about just how much more grace their families could stand” (Evangellyfish, p. 67).
Poor Choice Indeed
“This is a poor choice indeed, and yet it is the only choice that unbelieving thought can present us. Either we have the monolithic unity of Parmenides or the fractured whirl of Heraclitus. We either have the false unity of modernity or the equally hollow diversity of postmodernity. The only way out of this impasse …
Gospel Partaking
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #102 “And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you” (1 Cor. 9:23). Paul has made the particular sacrifices he has just finished mentioning with a particular end in mind. He was …
These Lust Clusters
What I have been calling pomosexuality is both a normal and abnormal state of affairs, and I should probably explain. Scripture teaches that there are two humanities, one broken and the other . . . broken, but in the process of being repaired. One humanity resides in Adam, and is in complete bondage to what …
For Additional Emphasis
“The previous three pastors had been there for about a year and a half each, and the last of the three had been the kind of fellow who typed long doctrinal screeds to errant fellow ministers, single-spaced, and with typing up the sides of the margins. Some thought that he had mastered the art of …
Unity As False Ideal
“But Adam was unitary, undivided, and alone. So God put him into a deep sleep and divided him into two pieces. God then took the second piece, made it into a woman, and brought her back to him in order to heal the division. God made one into two in order to change those two …