I just recently finished a magnificent book, The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism, and a taxonomical breakdown occurred to me. I thought I’d share. There are four kinds of Puritan, stretching across the centuruies. Since the sixteenth century, the story has mostly been one of devolution, although there have been some delightful throwbacks here and …
Wine in Communion
Most people come to our churches from the broader evangelical world. If you grew up Roman Catholic or Lutheran, you are accustomed to the use of wine in communion. But if you come to one of our services from an evangelical background, the use of wine can be quite a surprise. And because, as mentioned …
An E-Bookstore Named Vryso
Here is an interesting promotion for an e-bookstore. Take a gander.
Big Dragon’s Tooth Giveaway
. . . which you can get to by clicking here.
And That’s Pretty Wet
“I asked earlier what the characteristics of His rule would be. The passage from Isaiah 11 should take your breath away. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of God as the Pacific Ocean is wet” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 16)
Two Ways to the Same Place
“For the legalist, morality serves the same function that immorality does for the anitnomian or the progressive — namely, as the expression of self-reliance and self-assertion” (Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, p. 153).
Immediate and Mediate Blessings
“Christ is directly from above and the new birth is from above with equal directness. But from that double point on, Christianity, like general history, operates under the law of creatural causality and by that token becomes a moral process” (Volbeda, The Pastoral Genius of Preaching, p. 48).
A Corporate Amen
Another thing that is common in CREC churches is the corporate amen. There are other verbal responses that our congregations give, but amen is the most common. For other examples, after the Scripture reading, the reader says something like “The Word of the Lord,” and the congregation responds with “Thanks be to God.” And at …
Monga Debt and National Security
In the recent national security debate, Newt Gingrich clashed with Ron Paul, who had said something that sounded like “terrorism is bad, and we should certainly go after them for doing such things.” Paul had cited Oklahoma City as an example. In response Newt said that the point was to head off such attacks beforehand, …
One of Jupiter’s Moons
Those who are accustomed to the language of punditry know that when a candidate or office holder is said to “pivot,” this means that he has double-crossed somebody, most usually the people who elected him. “Pivoting” is a nice way of saying that I am going to go off and do something else now. “Something …