“Trying to avoid intolerance by presenting all possible points of view will be a boon to those suffering intolerance only if the various points of view presented express an equally robust empathy for the victims of intolerance” (Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled, p. 9).
So Pipe Down Then
God feeds us. He is not a negligent Father, one who fails to provide for His children. His table is always set well, and always furnished with all that we need. Of course, like naughty children, we sometimes do not eat what is set before us. Some children do not come to the Table at …
An Odd Call to Worship
This may strike you as an odd call to worship, but you are being summoned to worship the God of heaven with understanding. This includes understanding how our worship affects the unbelieving world outside, and this particularly includes unbelieving women in our community taking off their tops. First, know that when God is worshiped rightly …
Oh Great
“According to a recent report, overseas film earnings are growing at twice the annual rate of the domestic market; Hollywood accounts for about half the movie market in Japan and two-thirds of all movie tickets sold in Germany, France and Italy. Generally about 70 percent of films shown around the world are U.S. productions” (William …
Every Collar Obedient
“The Enlightenment tradition insists on the primacy of ‘timeless truths’ and says that as long as a student gets the answer right, nailing down that timeless truth, it does not matter if the answer came out of a disheveled, greasy head. It does not matter if the student mumbling the timeless truth is slouching around …
And One Visitor Said, “I Can See the Broken Eggs. Where’s the Omelet?”
“Caiaphas was invoking a mechanism for preserving culture that is as old as culture itself. Whether it is the Assyro-Babylonian myth declaring that Marduk created the world by killing the monster Tiamat; or the Teutonic myth telling how Odin formed the world by raising the corpse of Ymir from the sea of Ymir’s own blood; …
Before I Leave
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! I said to myself, take note of your ways, Don’t sin with your mouth. Bit and bridle go on the tongue, Whenever the wicked are standing here. So I said nothing, Dumbstruck in silence. I held my peace til grief flared up. …
Marriage Slipping Away
Our nation recently passed two significant milestones. This last week, our population passed the 300 million mark. And also, just recently, the make-up of that population has been significantly changing. Five years ago, 52 percent of all households in America were married households. That number has now dropped below 50 percent. This means that those …
Nothing Buttery and the Table
The Bible I preach from is a material book. That is all it is. There is nothing else there. The Bible is nothing but paper and ink. And of course to speak this way is to fall into the fallacy that one writer called nothing buttery. Of course, paper and ink is all it is …
Just Call Me Trevor
In the history of the Church, Christians have certainly divided over inconsequential matters before. Should you make the sign of the cross with two fingers or three? They have also divided over momentous issues, where the gospel itself was at stake. The magisterial Reformation was an example of this. Sometimes issues arise where it is …