“Read also good suggestive books, and get your mind aroused by them . . . Your pulpit preparations are your first business . . . I have no belief in that ministry which ignores laborious preparation” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 93).
Lots of Fun Stuff
“The dynamist verge cherishes these things too. It care about intensive progress. And it perceives what stasists miss — the spectacular creativity and cumulative knowledge embedded in the things we take for granted: in the making of movies, the fabrics and shapes of our clothes, the subtle combination of fine cuisine, the emotional impact of …
Both Pockets Full of Cash
So here’s some quick punditry standing on horseback at a full gallop. Watch me go. The results out of Iowa are interesting. Living in a democracy is interesting. Living in a rowdy democracy is interesting. First, take both parties together. The results appear to be largely connected to that intangible thing called likeability. Huckabee comes …
Anti-FV Espionage
Well, okay, it now looks like I need to offer a brief comment on the FV critics’ espionage network. Here’s the deal. Jim Jordan is the main dude at a ministry called Biblical Horizons. That ministry includes a private list discussion group, to which I belong. The list requirements concerning confidentiality are quite strict — …
Prayer for the Latter Rain
Recall that we are in the midst of the first great oracle in the latter portion of Zechariah. In this oracle thus far we have considered the rise of Alexander, the contrast of that evil man with Christ, and the triumph of the Maccabean resistance to Greek oppression. In this portion we see how the …
The Just and the Unjust
The adjective adikos is rendered as unjust or unrighteous. There are two kinds of people, the just and the unjust, and God gives rain and sunshine to both (Matt. 5:45). The faith of Israel was fixed on this, that at the end of history there would be a resurrection of both kinds of men, the …
And That Means Preaching Through Leviticus
“We would give every portion of Scripture its fair share in our heart and head. Doctrine, precept, history, type, psalm, proverb, experience, warning, promise, invitation, threatening, or rebuke — we would include the whole of inspired truth within the circle of our teachings. Let us abhor all one-sidedness, all exaggeration of one truth and disparagement …
The McBeat Goes On . . . or Does It?
“Consider popular music. It has long been a stastis truism that the cultural imperialism of Western pop would wipe out the diversity of world music, as surely as McDonald’s is supposed to crush local cuisines. Once imported via mass communication, critics predicted, Anglo-American music would roll over local cultural forms, displacing them with what the …
The Lord Against the Greeks
The prophet has given us a glimpse of the conquest of Alexander. In the midst of this vision, he jumps ahead so that we might see the character of another kind of conqueror, our Lord Jesus Christ. And then in this portion of Scripture, he returns to the scene established by the wars of Alexander, …
The Broad Range of Iniquity
Another common rendering of adikia is the translation iniquity. When the Lord banishes evildoers from His presence at the judgment, He calls them “all ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27). Luke also uses the same word for the “unjust steward” (16:8), and in the parable of the unjust judge (18:6). We get a glimpse of …