I have earlier made note of what are called plausibility structures. They explain why it is easy to be a Mormon in Salt Lake City, a Muslim in Mecca, and a secularist in an MSNBC newsroom. But let us refrain from applying it to first order beliefs, like religion, and fifth order beliefs, like the …
Conservative Republican Monkeys
Mittevitability is having a rough go lately. Last night Santorum — a Roman Catholic — took what might be called the hard evangelical states of Alabama and Mississippi. Any thoughtful student of American political history needs to say huh over that one at least a time or two. It took an administration jammed with Chicago …
Pleased to be Together
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #67 “But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an …
Always a Bright Side
“What is the meaning of ”one is taken and the other left’? This is commonly thought to refer to the rapture — one taken up into heaven, and the other left on earth to kick himself for not praying the sinner’s prayer when he had a chance. On the bright side, there will be a …
The Dark Center
“For one thing, our preachers tell us the wrong story entirely, saying not a word about the dark side — no, that’s too weak — about the dark center of the Gospel. They can’t bring themselves to come within a country mile of the horrendous truth that we are saved in our deaths, not by …
Wind-Sniffers and Mammon Monkeys
I turned on the news this morning, and was treated to my very first dog food commericial that was pitched to “pet parents.” This is just one more weirdness in a long succession of weirdnesses, and one that, like all the others, began with a rejection of the creational norms of sexuality. The people, having …
Puritanical
“We need to guard our lives against the love of riches and worldly cares. All love for earthly goods, however, is not a sin. Their sweetness is a drop of his love and they have his goodness imprinted on them. They kindle our love for him as love tokens from our dearest friend. Loving them …
A Little Rooster of a Brother
In most instances, bringing up daughters also includes bringing up sons at more or less the same time, and this means that someone has to manage the interaction. Boys and girls discover their differences early on, and in many cases, they discover that they don’t like those differences all that much. And they say so. …
Church History as Approaching Spring
“Within one generation, Jesus says the these signs will bud, and the summer (not winter) will be near. He reinforces His words with a strong word — heaven and earth might fold, but His words, never. And everything He said did come to pass within the course of one generation. Far from being an embarrassingly …
One Thing Missing
“The decay of preaching does not arise from any plurality of causes, but from one great cause, the want of the Spirit of God” (Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 23).