Confession Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father, You have invited us to come and reason together …
Watermelon Green
In the previous post on stewardship, one commenter asked a reasonable question. Why is it that I consistently use green as a term of contempt? And when do I, if ever, speak of the genuine demands of biblical stewardship in the environment? Consider this as a first pass in attempting to answer that question. First, …
The Privilege of Prayer
Book 3/Chapter 19 Two kingdoms (section 15) 1. What are the two kingdoms among men? 2. In which forum do we find each respectively? Conscience (section 16) 1. What is a good conscience? Book 3/Chapter 20 Faith and prayer (section 1) 1. How can the treasures of the Christian philosophy not be obtained? 2. Once …
Fair Minded Criticism
This is what fairminded criticism of the Federal Vision looks like. I have some (fairminded) quibbles here and there, but in the main I think the criticisms are accurate. FV men need to take these criticisms seriously, and if they prayerfully decide there is something to them, take them to heart.
Well Done
I have commented before on N.T. Wright’s need to be more forthright in his statements about the homosexual issue that is tearing, and now has torn, the Anglican communion apart. I was glad to see this statement from him. One could always quibble (I don’t want to involve Islam as a model for sexual ethics), …
Two Kinds of Offenses
Book 3/Chapter 19 Offenses (section 11) 1. What fundamental distinction does Calvin make between different kinds of offenses? 2. Who takes offense with each kind? Right use of freedom (section 12) 1. What two situations did Paul handle differently, but with “no change of purpose or mind”? Limits (section 13) 1. What limit is placed …
On Wordsmithing
Author Magazine has posted an interview with Nate, which should be quite interesting to aspiring writers. And they put a post up here about it.
Things Indifferent
Book 3/Chapter 19 Sons and servants (section 5) 1. What two kinds of obedience does Calvin compare here? 2. What passage does Calvin cite to justify his statement of how God receives our labors? No fear (section 6) 1. What do we not need to fear now that we have been emancipated by grace? Things …
Amoretti
As you may know, my daughter Bekah has a clothing line with her business Amoretti, which you can take a look at over here. With me so far? The Merkles have been in England for the last three years, but they are now back home, and yay for that. In related news, they now have …
Christians on Paper/Romans XXVII
INTRODUCTION: So what is the difference between those who are simply called by God’s name, and those who really belong to Him? This is a question that arises in both covenants, and it is answered (in principle) the same way for both. The Jews had drifted into the error of externalism, and Paul is here …