The next word to consider is a mouthful — allotriepiskopos. It refers to someone who is a busybody in the affairs of others. In the latter half of the word we can see the word that is rendered elsewhere as overseer or bishop. This busybody, this renegade bishop, is engaged in looking over the shoulder …
Cheerfulness is not Froth
“A great distinction exists between holy cheerfulness, which is a virtue, and that general levity, which is a vice. There is a levity which has not enough heart to laugh, but trifles with everything; it is flippant, hollow, unreal. A hearty laugh is no more levity than a hearty cry. I speak of that religious …
One or the Other
“All idols belong either to nature or to history. The whole creation falls into those two categories, and there is no other place to which man can turn to find a substitute for God. Any idol that is not an artifact of the natural world is an artifact of the social world” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols …
The New Ordinary
INTRODUCTION: The first Easter occurred at the time of Passover, which is when the first fruits of the barley crop were presented to the Lord. Pentecost, soon to follow, is when the first fruits of the wheat harvest were presented. As we consider the importance of the resurrection, we need to think of it in …
Why Jeremiah Wright is No Jeremiah
In the dust-up following the release of video clips of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s rants, there has been a lot media attention, and the chattering classes have been . . . well, chattering. As I have reflected on this, it occurred to me that I wanted to comment on several reasons why the general indignation …
A Chilling Effect
Well, today Obama denounced remarks made by his incendiary preacher, and I must say I view this with a measure of alarm. Speaking for incendiary preachers everywhere, what kind of message does this send? What sort of chilling effect might it create? If a member of my congregation ever ran for president . . . …
A Package of Oreos and a Gallon of Milk
This next chapter of Schneider’s book was really good. When I perform weddings I routinely resort to the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. In the first pages of Genesis, before the Fall, God tells us He created us male and female, and after the Fall, Jesus still appeals to that creation order when …
Polluting Idols
The word for pollution is alisgema, and is used once. In Acts 15:20, the decision of the Jerusalem Council was that the Gentiles needed to abstain from certain basic things, among them the pollutions of idols. However much idolatry may appeal to that which is primitive, and therefore pure, the end result of all forms …
Stay Real
“We must put away all notion of self-importance. God will not bless the man who thinks himself great. To glory even in the work of God the Holy Spirit in yourself is to tread dangerously near to self-adulation. ‘Let another praise thee, and not think own lips,’ and be very glad when that other has …
Why Discussions Get Hot Sometimes
“And that explains the vehemence with which attacks on someone’s assumptions are met; they are often attacks on that person’s unacknowledged religion” (Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, p. 8).