Within the last week or so, we have seen the removal of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama courthouse, a removal done on the tyrannical insistence of our federal government, over the courageous protest of Chief Justice Moore. My point here is not to praise or blame Moore, although if it were, I would praise …
Like Scarsdale
So here I sit in the Chicago airport, exercising the patience of Job, or at any rate thinking that I ought to be exercising the patience of Job. No, nothing to do with the flights. I just finished reading Michael Horton’s contribution to Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry. I was seriously disappointed — I think …
A Colorless, Odorless Gas With Lots of Potential
In this centerpiece chapter, Richard Dawkins sets out to turn the tables on the creationists, and he wants to do so in an elegant way. His argument reminds me of a comment once made to my brother-in-law (a pediatric cardiologist) by another doctor, an atheist. He said that the liver was so complicated, God couldn’t …
And You Help Me Pursue
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Oh God, my Lord and God, I seek You early in the morning. My soul thirsts for You, My body longs for You In a dry and thirsty land, Where there is no water. I long to see Your power and glory, …
Why the World Limps
The world used to be a pleasant place. Occasionally trouble would arise—a plague, or a disaster, or an invasion. But men instinctively knew how to deal with all such events—they would find the one responsible, whether he was responsible or not, take him outside the city limits, and stone him there. The pile of stones …
Then Go Away
There are three Persons in the triune Godhead, and the eternal Logos is one of those Three. He is numbered among the divine entities who mutually indwell one another, and who make up the one true and living God. This one, who is numbered among the Three, became flesh and dwelt among us, and He …
Cereal or Eggs?
The next chapter is the heart of Dawkins’ book, so the best plan would seem to take more than one installment to deal with it. At the conclusion of this chapter, Dawkins says that “this chapter has contained the central argument of my book” (p. 157), which is actually kind of scary when you think …
Our Communion Parable
Father and Lord, we come to You in the name of the Lord Jesus, and ask You to hear our prayer. We are thankful for our food, for the wine, for another Sabbath, and for the opportunity to worship You tomorrow together with all Your people. We thank You for the communion of saints, and …
Merit Isn’t One of Those Words
The next chapter in Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry is entitled “The Covenant Before the Covenants,” and is written by Scott Clark and David VanDrunen. In the course of reviewing it, I intend to quote Ambrose Bierce not once, but twice. The first citation is of a more general nature. The topic of this chapter …
What is the Recruitment Pool?
“The inescapable and painful fact is that only Muslims are tempted by militant Islam. This creates a moral, legal, and political challenge. While anyone might become a fascist or Communist, only Muslims become Islamists. And if it is true that most Muslims are not Islamists, it is no less true that all Islamists are Muslims” …