“Genetic or racial determinism is no better. It will come as a surprise to American readers, perhaps, to learn that the majority of the British underclass is white, and that it demonstrates all the same social pathology as the black underclass in America—for very similar reasons, of course” (Theodore Dalrymple, Life at the Bottom, p. …
Some Marks of the Covenant of Grace
“A special part of the covenant of grace is in that promise in Ezekiel 11:19:20: ‘I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.’ And Jeremiah 32:38-39: ‘They shall be My people, and I will be their …
And A Slippery One
“Every preacher knows the insidious temptation to vainglory to which the pulpit exposes him. We stand there in a prominent position, lifted above the congregation, the focus of their gaze and the object of their attention. It is a perilous position indeed” (John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait, p.77).
Right From the Start
“The Hadith records the names of at least 27 individuals who were murdered on Muhammad’s orders” (Peter Hammond, Slavery, Terrorism & Islam, p. 64).
Multi-Culti Vengeance
“[A]nd when he repeatedly exposed the follies of these policies in print, the advocates of ‘diversity’—who maintain that all cultures are equal but that opinions other than their own are forbidden—mounted a vicious and vituperative campaign against him . . . Hell, it seems, hath no fury like a multi-culturalist contradicted” (Theodore Dalrymple, Our Culture, …
Compromise #1
Chapter Two of Darryl Hart’s A Secular Faith was, as you may recall, a really disappointing treatment of the theocratic and establishmentarian convictions of the Westminster Assembly. This next chapter was quite different — all of it was admirable, and most of it was simply outstanding. Darryl begins by showing how two early presidents, Jefferson …
Living in the Will of God
INTRODUCTION: What Christian does not want to live in the will of God? What an admirable aspiration, and what a difficult thing to figure out. Many Christians have needlessly tied themselves up in knots over this issue. THE TEXTS: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such …
The Law/Gospel Study Bible, Coming Soon
My apologies to Green Baggins for not getting to his latest installment on RINE more promptitudinously. Things have been busy — ministerial conference, presbytery, and a writing deadline all conspired to reinforce the dictum that obligations are like grapes. They come in bunches. Lane reviewed two chapters together (17 and 18), and he didn’t really …
A Commonplace in Proverbs
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 130 “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich” (Prov. 21:17). This is a commonplace in the book of Proverbs. Take your pick—luxury and self-indulgence, and poverty with it, …
Kings Who Devour and Kings Who Feed
The incident of feeding the multitudes is recorded in all four Gospels, and is clearly considered by the witnesses of Christ’s ministry to be very important. And as we consider the meaning God has written for us here it is crucial for us to note the context. “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves …