No man was ever condemned for trusting in the Word of the Lord. Men have been condemned for trifling with it in unbelief, but no poor beggar was ever turned away who came to Him in faith. He turns the proud and haughty away, and scatters the mighty of the earth. But for those who …
Learning the Difference
Grace is a river that consistently overflows the banks. The goodness of God is always in flood stage. We, afflicted with various forms of unbelief, are always quick to believe that God is somehow trembling on the threshold of a miserly disposition. If we provoke Him just one more time, He will throw all His …
Not That Long Ago
“We live our lives like fruit flies, measuring everything by the length of our own little span, which isn’t that long. We then assume that ancient history really was a long time ago, but it was not. No doubt somewhere in your town lives a person who is 100 years old. When that person was …
The Pale Galilean Still Conquers
“Max Weber’s interpretation is rooted in Nietzsche’s reading of Judeo-Christianity as the resentment (ressentiment) of the weak against the strong, the slaves against their masters, the victims against their persecutors. The literal madness of Nietzsche’s attitude is that, close as he was to recognizing the truth of human culture, he willfully espoused its lie. He …
Westminster Eight: Of Christ the Mediator
1. It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man (Isa. 42:1; 1 Pet. 1:19–20; John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:5), the Prophet (Acts 3:22), Priest (Heb. 5:5–6), and King (Ps. 2:6. Luke 1:33), the Head and Savior of …
Westminster Seven: Of God”s Covenant With Man
1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of …
With the Look of Real Wood
I don’t often read a book twice because time is short and there are so many others to get to. Of course such a sweeping statement would not include the Narnia stories and The Lord of the Rings, or Code of the Woosters, which will always repay multiple readings. In theology, I read Luther’s Bondage …
Scripted Authenticity
“A considerable number of events are staged to attract television cameras. When a political candidate goes to a closed factory or stands outside the slums so that a camera can capture the scene, the candidate is manipulating television coverage. Some people get so good at figuring out how to do this that they get paid …
Learning Respect At Home
“[Y]ou cannot teach children to appreciate other cultures by teaching (by default) contempt for your own. As I have said before, a man who dearly loves his own mother will understand (fully) why another man regards his mother so highly. But a man who has contempt for his own mother will hardly rise to the …
When Cartharsis Is Not the Main Point
“Irony is not demonstrable, I repeat, and it should not be, otherwise it would disturb the catharsis of those who enjoy the play at the cathartic level only. Irony is anticathartic. Irony is experience in a flash of complicity with the writer at his most subtle, against the larger part of the audience that remains …