“In other words, when the elders of a church are determining whether or not a new candidate is qualified for the office, they must be the type of men who are mature in judgment. They are discerning character, not counting rocks” (Fidelity, p. 159).
Master of the Plain Style
“This does not mean that Calvin was unaware of rhetoric. He was a master of it! He knew Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian well. He had carefully schooled himself in John Chrysostom and Augustine, both accomplished in the art of rhetoric. As is often said of very great artists, he had mastered his art so completely …
The Horizon is Really Quite Interesting
“If a man can’t go to the beach without sinning, then he should quit going to the beach. But if he has the self-discipline to spend a lot of time looking at the clouds, or gazing out to sea like the ancient mariner, then he can do that” (Fidelity, p. 150).
An Essential Part of the Offering
“The exposition of Scripture in course became one of the biggest planks in their platform of Christian revival. To them it was an essential component of a Christian worship that was according to Scripture and after the example of the ancient church. To these Reformers the sermon was an act of worship. It was the …
The Machete of Curiosity
So, then, the issues are perennial, but the terms are not. Anyone working through the tangled weave of religion and politics may need some help with terms. Anyone whacking away at the thicket of culture and faith with the machete of curiosity could probably use a simple lexicon. It seems only fair to provide some …
The Yellow House on Howard
Last Thursday we held the memorial service for my mother In one part of the service, we asked a grandson from each of the four lines of the family to say a few things in memory of their grandmother. Here are Nate’s comments, and you can watch them below. Elizabeth Catherine Wilson – In Memoriam …
Where History is Aimed
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #16 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us …
Striving to Lose
“The harm is that men are not faithful to hookers. Why should a Christian woman want to look like one? Why on earth would she want to resemble the kind of woman who is easy to use and easier to leave?” (Fidelity, pp. 142-143).
Your Wretched Regulations
“To the pure mind, none of the powers of manhood are common or unclean. Humour can be consecrated, and should be . . . some preachers are so unnatural themselves, that the human nature of their hearers refuses to subject itself to their operations. O ye who are evermore decorously dull, before ye judge a …
Why Yarn Can’t Hold the Needles
One of the central tests of a Trinitarian understanding of practical theology is the ability to maintain distinctions in unity, and to maintain unity while steadfastly holding distinctions. Form and balance together is Trinitarian. To pick one aspect of God’s creation, and to root for it until it absorbs all the others is unitarian. To …