Hospitality, where it is still practiced in the church, is largely an unstudied virtue. The demands of modernity and the frenetic pace of life around us dictate that we neglect our responsibility to have our brothers and sisters into our homes. Nevertheless, the Bible is very plain in requiring us to be disciplined in our …
No Kidding?
“When you do away with the old High-Low [brow] hierarchy, people become more obsessed than ever with status” [John Seabrook, Nobrow (New York: Vintage Books, 2000), p. 168].
The Real Salt and Light Argument
“Rightly understood, this is the true ‘salt and light’ argument. Before we can win the children of this world, we have to stop losing our children to that world. And as we teach them their identity in Christ in such a way that they embrace that identity and the terms of the covenant that define …
Bear With Me A Little In My Folly
Introduction: The apostle Paul was a polarizing figure. You either really loved him, or you really didn’t. Not only was this the case in his day, it remains the case down to the present. The Text: “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For …
Before the Dawning Sun
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! So then I cried with all my heart, Hear me, oh Lord, I pray. I will keep Your statutes pure, Again I cry, please save me now, And I will keep Your holy law. I rose before the dawning sun, And I …
Only Grace
We serve and worship a merciful God. One of the central lessons to learn as we approach this Table is that God loves us and wants us here. This is a hard lesson to learn—sinful men know how to flatter themselves, and they can readily believe (in their own conceits) that God loves them just …
God-centered Worship?
Reformed Christians have sometimes reacted away from the man-centered worship of much of the contemporary church, and they have lurched to another extreme, one just as dangerous. If you react away from a style of worship that seems to be saying nothing more than “gimme, gimme, gimme,” the temptation is to think that “God-centered worship” …
The OPC Report on the Federal Vision
The OPC report on the Federal Vision is being considered at their General Assembly this week. Because of this, I want to say just a few things for the record. It is not that my opinion matters all that much, but I feel free to make these comments because I am labeled as one of …
Seth and Naphtali
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, welcome. In the kind name of the Lord Jesus Christ, welcome. In the communion of all the saints who love the Lord Jesus, welcome. This is a great mystery, the apostle Paul tells us. The ultimate bridegroom is the Lord Jesus, and the bride is …
False, False, and False
For those who for some reason want to follow the saga of the most recent secularist and hypocritical (but I repeat myself) attack on Christ Church, you can see a particularly ripe sample here. This kind of thing is of course crazy. So why respond to it then? Why give the time of day to …