Letters On the Very Threshold of November

Can you recommend any good resources-books or video series-for learning church history from a Protestant point of view?

Thank you and God bless.

Ryan

RE: The Little Drummer Boy Responds to Denny Burk

One additional question for Denny Burk on his argument that the OT (in the original language) is not really explicit when it comes to obscenity is to ask him for an example of what he would consider to be an explicit word or phrase in Hebrew. People digging your post 1000 years from now could make the exact same argument, that “Wilson’s post was not actually explicit because the word that he used is just an euphemism for ‘female private parts’, so it is really not explicit.”

My point being that he is winning the argument by defining the terms in his favour. If he believes that the words used by Scripture cannot be obscene or vulgar “by definition,” then guess what? He must be right that the Scriptures do not use obscenities or vulgarities. If he cannot produce a Hebrew word (used perhaps in some non-biblical Hebrew corpus) that he would consider vulgar or obscene than he is just defining the terms to his convenience.

Furthermore, saying that “basar” is not explicit because it connotative rather than denotative is absolutely irrelevant, e.g. the word “c*ck” literally means “rooster”, but when it is used as an euphemism for “p*nis” it is somehow more shocking and offensive than the explicit word.

Joao

My apologies for such and annoying question. I am convinced that over the last couple of months you had a succinct sentence or two that gave an overview of how a husband and wife deal with decision making especially when there is disagreement. I remember thinking, huh, that’s beautiful. As it turns out this guide or idea has become very personally relevant for my wife and I but I just can’t articulate it. I have searched and scanned through every recent blog but I just can’t seem to find it. I have a general sense that you were responding to some other person but not in a letter to editor section if that helps pinpoint it. Having not read your Federal Husband book or others of yours on the topic and gathering most of your thoughts through this blog I feel I still butcher any attempt to verbalize “headship”.

Much appreciated,

Jim

There are two different emphases in your teaching that seem to push in opposite directions and I am wondering how they fit together. On the one hand, I have heard you say that an important aspect of biblical masculinity that you believe is often neglected in a lot of the evangelical teaching on gender is men’s orientation towards mission. You have pointed out that novels written by men for men focus on a mission and this deeply resonates with men. In your Man Rampant episode with Aaron Renn, you seem to suggest that one of the issues with much of the evangelical teaching on masculinity is that it only focuses on the home and the way that a man should be serving his family at home and ignores the idea of having an outward facing mission.

However, on the other hand, your teaching also seems to focus on the home a lot as something that should be prioritized. I have heard you say that a problem is that everyone wants to save the world but no one wants to help with the dishes. I’m wondering how these two ideas fit together, on the one hand that men need an outward mission that is not just within the four walls of their home and on the other hand that saving the world starts with simple things like establishing a household and bringing up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord without going out into the world to slay the dragon. I’m confused as to whether you’re saying that men should be more focused on the domestic world of their households in contrast to the way that previous functions of the household have been outsourced to the outside world, or if you are saying that men are too focused on the domestic world of their household and should be more focused on external missions, or some combination of both. How exactly do these ideas fit together?

Will

Commenting on your “When Do Baptized Children Become Covenant Members” video. Will you explain covenantal salvation a bit more? Why did Adam and Eve have a believing child and then also an unbelieving wayward child? Was covenantal salvation not in place until the Abrahamic covenant? When was covenantal salvation established?

I was asking my husband these questions and he encouraged me to reach out and ask. We are new parents and we desire a strong Biblical theology of how to raise our children covenantally (:

Thanks so much!

Andrew & Erin

I saw this video about Christian Nationalism a few days ago and was wondering if you could respond in a blog post or a video.

Thanks,

Trey

I searched for a while but couldn’t find this specific question, which is regarding membership and baptism for a new believer that has made a profession of faith, desires baptism, and is striving to live a regenerated lifestyle, but is still beset by an ongoing addiction (porn, drugs, alcohol, etc.). I know that God doesn’t rely on us to reach a certain level of sanctification before the atonement takes effect (justification vs. sanctification), but ongoing sin is not excused for a believer (1 John 3:6). Where do you draw the line for membership and baptism in this case? Are you looking for ‘directionally correct progress’ on an individual basis? I’ve seen it handled several different ways, and I wonder if we are often unnecessarily withholding baptism (to avoid a potential discipline situation, but I don’t think discipline necessarily applies if the individual is repentant, sincere, and is trying to work out what Christ has worked in us to overcome the sin). Anyway, I would love to hear your thoughts.

On an unrelated note, I recently saw someone refer to you as a “jolly wall” and I thought that was a perfect description. I am grateful for your indefatigable cheerfulness while you stand firmly on God’s Word. God bless you and happy NQN! I am here for it.

Thanks!

Tim

Kind sir, are you of the persuasion that women ought not to read Scripture to the church? Do you take that to be authoritative?

Appreciatively,

AW

By the grace of God, through several years of your writings and the excellent content on Canon+, my family has moved from the SBC to the PCA to the CREC. What wonderful liturgy! The Lord’s Day truly is the best day of the week! But these changes leave me with a conundrum on catechizing my young children, as I’m not sure there is one written that is Reformed but also emphasizes the objectivity of the covenant and God’s love for the children of His people. Rich Lusk wrote one but a lot of answers would need editing for brevity to make it usable for memorization.

What catechism would you use today for young children?

Any chance of a CREC committee producing a catechism for young children? Perhaps a revision with the Children’s Catechism as a base as its answers are admirably concise.

Christopher

I am seeking counsel about whether I should make a matter known to my friend and mentor regarding his son. While my wife and I were shopping several weeks ago I ran into the son of a pastor in my church. He was extremely . . . happy to see us. In fact he was quite clearly (in my opinion) inebriated (I suspect he was stoned). Of coarse, I cannot prove this—I don’t have a drug test. But I’ve been a young man and fallen into this folly so I am not a novice concerning this type of thing.

This young man is part of our worship team and has an apprenticeship under our worship director. His father is the family ministries pastor of our church. The father and I have our differences theologically, but he is a good man. He has taken me under his wing, put himself out there for me by helping me get a better job, and has become something of a mentor to me. I also suspect that he is not altogether unaware of the goings on with his son.

Because of my respect for the father, I have not brought it up. But I don’t know if I should. My instincts are to let it go and mind my business, but since the young man is leading in a way, I feel he should be held to some sort of standard. I suppose I could also seek counsel with the other pastor of our church. Just not sure what I should do—if anything.

Thank you kindly for your time and attention.

A

To what extent has American eschatology determined our foreign policy in regards to Israel? As Disp Premil has dominated our American eschatology for quite a while, and this view clearly has a special role for Israel, do you think this correlates or caused certain commitments? Lastly, what do you think our relationship to the country of Israel would be like (would there even be a country???) had our eschatology been solidly postmil for the past 150 years? Any of this addressed in your upcoming book?

Thanks

Tim

First, I just wanted to say thank you for your ministry. It has been a great blessing to my family and me. We enjoy the Canon press app and use it almost daily. The resources on there are wonderful and the Lord has used them in our lives as a family. I’m a pastor’s wife and home school mother of five children. My husband and I seek to teach our children the Word of God on a daily basis and to always point them to Christ, the only way, truth, and life. I know you’ve done the same with your family and it’s a blessing to see them serving Christ as well.

I do have a question (or concern) that I’d like to get your input on. Although most of your resources are wonderful and do point to Christ, I’m a bit confused on your support of Mark Twain. He was an atheist and a hater of God. This was not something that he kept a secret but is something that is actually portrayed in his books. With you being such an advocate of truth, I wonder why you are such a supporter of his “classic” works? You encourage our children to read his work and be entertained by it. We are commanded by Scripture to keep away from every form of evil (1Thess. 5:22). My question is, why would you want us or our children to read anything from a God hater?

Please know that I do not mean this email in any negative way, I really want to understand your view on this. Am I viewing this wrongly?

Thank you for taking the time to read my email and I look forward to hearing from you.

Looking to our Savior

LP

I’m having trouble with the idea of the husband being responsible for his wife’s sins and how that fits into the clear principle explained in Ezek. 18:20: “The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son . . .” I know what you wrote about guilt vs. responsibility, but consider this example: a husband walks in on his wife fornicating with another man. Is the husband responsible for his wife’s choice to commit adultery? I have a hard time assigning blame for that to the husband.

Now, there are of course reasons for why the wife might have done that, and if those reasons can be traced back to things the husband did or didn’t do (i.e. the husband’s sin), then I believe the husband bears the responsibility for those things. But I can’t see the husband being assigned responsibility for the immorality of his wife.

Which brings to mind the following thought, and I don’t know if this pertains or his helpful: sin always has consequences (Col. 3:25), and often the consequences of sin in one area are to experience the effects of someone else’s sin in another. Sin begets sin.

I believe David could testify to that. The question is, how far does this cascading effect extend to the concept of responsibility? I think that’s what I’m having trouble sorting out, and I can’t see it being a wholesale proposition.

grh

I’ve just recently started my first pastorate at a church that has a bustling private Christian school ministry, probably similar to Logos in Moscow in some ways. One of my primary undertakings has been connecting with the high-schoolers. Particularly I am teaching a grade 10-12 Bible class 3x a week (we’re currently going through Acts) and I will also be starting up a Youth Ministry sometime early in the new year.

Do you have any insights or advice for teaching and capturing this age group? I really don’t want to force feed them facts but rather inspire them to hunger for Scripture and for God. I find the balance between establishing respect and focus while also remaining playful and lighthearted to be challenging.

Thanks in advance.

(PS, I have read Chris Schlect’s book!)

Colin

‘ll get straight to the point. I am a Student (7th to 12th grade) Minister at my church. Postmill has been a really great influence on my ministry here. But, recently, the numbers attending my events have been smaller than even the past 3 years I’ve served here. So, what advice would you give to a (admittedly young) minister in this position who is dealing with discouragement over numbers?

Thanks,

Anon