Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday, and it is a time—all over our nation—when people sit down to a feast with people who are dear to them, and who are also exasperating to them. This is why holidays like Thanksgiving are often filled with joy, and with tension. This is why our reunions contain both laughter …
The Gilded Rule
Perhaps we should rename the Golden Rule, and call it the Gilded Rule. What Jesus actually taught has been wrapped up and stored in the attic, while a poor substitute—which is “expect everybody to be comparatively decent”—has been plated with a flakey, golden looking substance, and placed on the mantel. And our workaround understanding of …
Like a Duck on a June Bug
Sometime in the next 24, most of you should receive an evite asking you to pre-order the next hard copy of Credenda. Jump on that evite, I say. Jump on it, like a duck on a June bug. We are within a few days of sending this baby off to the printers, and although there …
Homemade People
My daughter Rachel has a great post up at the Resurgence. It turns out that home cooking is a great idea with people too. Click here.
Of the Increase of His Government . . .
“The prophet Isaiah had more on his mind than providing feel-good quotes for our Christmas cards” (Heaven Misplaced, 14)
And Hard Wood Burns Longer Than Kleenex
“The danger of formalism is real. Prayers and sermons that are read from a manuscript are usually stiff and unnatural and artificial. But the dangers of spontaneity is also great. If the heart is without passion, it will produce lifeless, jargon-laden spontaneity. And if the heart is aflame, no form will quench it” (Piper, Brothers, …
But What If . . .
“Of course, if it is not true, then it doesn’t matter how lovely it is. We have all had some pretty good daydreams. But if it is altogether lovely, then perhaps some might be persuaded to reconsider if it might actually be true” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 11)
The Point of Pastoral Pain
“No pastoral suffering is senseless. No pastoral pain is pointless. No adversity is absurd or meaningless. Every heartache has its divine target in the consolation of the saints, even when we feel least useful. How does a pastor’s suffering achieve the consolation and salvation of his flock? The context of Paul’s words suggests the following …
Co-Laborers With God
“What the preacher must be out to do as he exercises his pastoral office in the pulpit, is to be a co-laborer with God in making God’s people more spiritual so that their spiritual life may progressively dominate their natural life in all its earthly relationships” (Volbeda, The Pastoral Genius of Preaching, p. 43)
God’s Helicopters
“No Christian is pessimistic about final glory. But most Christians are pessimistic about the course of history prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In this view, the world is God’s Vietnam, and the return of Christ consists of the few lucky ones helicoptered off a roof during the fall of Saigon” (Heaven Misplaced, pp. …