“Better that Demas should forsake us, than that he should abide with us, and import the world into the church” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, p. 295).
Sounds, Sights, and Usually Some Skin
“Images have a way of evoking an emotional response. Pictures have a way of pushing rational discourse—linear logic—into the background. The chief aim of television is to sell products and entertain audiences. Television seeks emotional gratification. As a visual medium, television programming is designed to be amusing. Substance gives way to sounds and sights. Hard …
Oxymoronic Adultery
“No double standard exists in God’s law. If a woman were an adulteress she could be executed for it, and if a man were an adulterer he could be executed for it. So the double standard on the part of Christ’s adversaries here is evident. They catch a woman committing adultery all by herself, and …
Marshmallow Clouds, Puffy Rainbows, and Unicorns
Well, the Obaminator has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate and, as I see it from here, the wheels continue to come off the Obama campaign. The once robust coalition of marshmallow clouds, puffy rainbows, and unicorns is starting wear a little thin. At least around here. I continue to believe that the …
Those Darn Back Rubs
Chapter Seven introduces Johnny Quinn, one of Camel Creek’s youth ministers, and his girl friend Brandy. We are entering our seventh week of chapter installments, and I hope that all 1,902 unique visitors to the Evangellyfish web site have gotten their money’s worth.
Present Your Bodies as Spiritual Worship
Over the years we have emphasized the importance of ritual. Rituals are significant in the Bible, and they ought to be significant to us. We have also emphasized the importance of worshipping God with our bodies and not just with our minds. We have sought to resist the temptation that many Reformed Christians deal with, …
Not Too Young to be Carried
How does God feed us? In that great passage from the servant songs in Isaiah, the prophet says, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” (Is. 40:11). Notice that God does …
Beware All Isms Except for Prisms
All strident advocacy of isms gives me the creeping fantods, and that would include capitalism. I don’t believe in “capitalism.” I believe in Jesus. But if someone were to describe my ideal society with regard to economics, there is no doubt that he would be describing a free market, capitalist society — a minarchy. Why …
Mystic Grace of a Saturday Morn
While preparing for a talk in NSA’s grad program, I had occasion to go back and reread Rowan Williams’ lecture entitled “The Body’s Grace.” Doing so I was reminded of the experience of some medieval mystics, and I myself had some small glad participation in the great cloud of unknowing.
Bread That Laughs and Sings
“While God gives me meat in due season and the sensibilities with which to relish the gift, I refuse to sit down to eat and rise up only to have picked and fussed my way through the goodness of the earth . . . It is bread that strengthens man’s heart; it is the valleys …