“Scandals that are so circumstanced, and they only, are to be taken notice of by church judicatories as the proper object of church discipline. Hence we may see a great difference between offense as it is the object of private discretion, and as it is the object of church discipline” (Durham, p. 50, emphasis mine).
Trying to Cover the Smell
“A Christian worldview is not a condiment added to a plate full of neutral food in order to flavor it. The faith of our fathers is not an educational afterthought. The ‘potatoes’ always come from somebody’s kitchen. Sometimes Hindus, Muslims, and atheists can be induced to eat Christian potatoes (because the Christian education provided at …
Credenda Through the Ears
If I might, I would like to draw your attention to your immediate left, where you will at first think you are seeing double, only up and down, not left and right. But the Credenda cover underneath the first one is actually the image for Credenda audio, a new feature around these parts. A closer …
The Heart of the Problem
“Daix here puts his finger on a pattern that will recur throughout Picasso’s life. Realism is the visual language of love; when the affair turns sour, Picasso turns away from the object and reverts to Cubist distortions, which convey simultaneously lust, rage, and the desire to mutilate and destroy” [E. Michael Jones, Degenerate Moderns (San …
What Breeds Offenses
“Tenaciousness and self-willedness often breed offenses, and continually stand in the way of removing them; and although there is nothing more ordinary in a time of offenses that that, to wit, for men to stand to their own judgment and opinion as if it were a piece of liberty and conscience not to condescend in …
Leaving the Gun At Home
“And in some of the subtle cases, we have to consider what a Christian worldview almost is. In the first place, a Christian worldview is not the same thing as Christian worldview jargon. The oldest trick in the world is to attach oneself to some promising movement or other by simply putting on the uniform …
When Someone Else Is Petty
We are living in times of polarization and conflict. We see this in families, we see it in the Church at large, and we see it in our nation. The bonds of fellowship are strained or broken, and open turmoil can break out with the slightest provocation. Our time is not unique in this respect; …
Deliver Me As You Have Said
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Why do You not stoop to my cry? Come near, oh Lord, and hear Grant me the wisdom of Your Word, And let my supplication come, Deliver me as You have said. My lips will utter all Your praise, When You have …
The Real Miracle
The God of all creation, heaven and earth, sea and dry land, is a wonder-working God. He is the God of extraordinary miracles, and He is the God of all the ordinary miracles as well. What is more miraculous than all the ordinary things that surround us on every hand. God is the author of …
Post Fourth Meditation
“Faith exhibits itself in works, and above all in fireworks.” — G.K. Chesterton This is from an essay entitled ‘Cardboard Noses’ in the November 25, 1905 issue of the Illustrated London News. HT: Mark Beauchamp