The word aitiama is used once and is rendered as complaint. “And when he [Festus] was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove” (Acts 25:7). One of the more striking aspects of the biblical narrative is how often …
Laid Up In Lavender
“We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to spend and be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender, and nurse our flesh” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 157).
Gritty Realism
“To the extent that women have begun to appear in this shooter world, they do so as caricatures—with cartoonishly erotic bodies. The characteristic pose of Laura Croft from Eidos’s Tomb Raider is a straight-on view of her scowling face, skinny waist, pneumatic breasts, and two huge guns that she’s aiming directly at you. Like other …
Sex, Sexuality, Gender and Everything In Between
It looks as though Wheaton has had a speaker (Jim Wallis) who (according to this report) believes that homosexual rights issues are biblical “justice” issues, and who is in favor of civil unions for homosexuals. Let’s work with this for a moment. The problem is not that Wheaton is having a speaker with such convictions. …
Christ the Lord of Real Presence
The practice of the Lord’s Supper demands thoughtful observance. Without a careful scriptural study of what we are doing we are vulnerable to many errors — whether superstition on the one hand, or ignorant controversies on the other. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will …
Faults and Crimes
The word autia is rendered a number of different ways. When it refers to objectionable behavior, the context helps determine how it should be translated. It is rendered as the accusation that was recorded against Jesus at His crucifixion and nailed to the cross above Him (Matt. 27:37; Mk. 15:26). When Festus is talking about …
And Other Days Your Tongue is a Brick
“It may save you much surprise and grief if you are forewarned that there will be great variations in your power of utterance. To-day your tongue may be the pen of a ready writer, to-morrow you thoughts and words may be alike frost-bound” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 152).
A Problem in the Ritual Catechesis
“The beauty of fluid movement through the screens and the technical challenges of doors, elevators, and teleporters can captivate players for hours at a time. But the story arc is invariable: you, the righteous one, are licensed to kill until you die yourself. And you can revive yourself to kill again” (Lawrence and Jewett, The …
Never Act Like God’s Fellowship Standards are Too Low
“Take heed you do not reject any from being your brother whom Jesus Christ, at the great day, will own as His, and whom God the Father will call His child” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 391).
Belay My Last
A few weeks ago, I had some fun posting pictures of all the global warming that was making it hard to get up the hill to my house. One response was that one local cooling variation does not a global global warming hysteria undo, and point taken. But it turns out to have been the …