“Even so, most people still tend [to] think of the popular arts as ‘lowbrow’ entertainment and not something to be thought about or evaluated as art. This has disastrous consequences for the cultivation of Christian discernment . . .Undermining the status of popular art has not led to education of the audience to heighten appreciation; …
When Reason is Unreasonable
“Throughout Scripture we find a clear contrast between the philosophy of the natural man and the mind of Christ. When such passages are brought to bear on the various doctrines of the rationalist, the response is usually to shrug them off. And yet this is not sufficient; indeed, it is not reasonable. The Word of …
Profit and Mess
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 85 “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox” (Prov. 14:4). Another way of saying this is that profit is messy. Profit is intrusive. Really profitable times can really mess …
Christ In All
When Jesus taught that He was the bread of life, come down from heaven, His listeners grumbled at Him. How was this possible, they asked? This was Jesus, after all, and they knew Joseph and Mary. How was it possible that He came down from heaven? Jesus answered them as said that they should not …
A Psalming People
As we continue to pray and labor for reformation in the church, remember that this is not accomplished in some invisible place. Reformation is manifest in the church; it is manifest to the world. Reformation is not change for the sake of change, but it will sometimes look like this to outsiders. Reformation is not …
Magazined
“We adults look around, for example, and observe that while brain surgeons and Nobel laureates probably have their good points, surely glossy-magazine editors are the most impressive people in America. Every month, in the front of their magazines, many of them have to write those six-hundred word columns with titles like ‘From the Editor’s Desk’ …
All of Them Face Down
“To what may we liken God? The answer, friends, is nothing. And we show that we may compare Him to nothing by comparing Him to everything that is worthy of Him, and, of course, nothing completely is. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. This is not zen Christianity; it is the …
The Proud Have Dug Their Pits
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Keep me from fainting now, oh Lord, Through hope in Your pure word. My eyes are failing for Your law. When will You come and comfort me, When will You answer all my cries? A dried out wineskin in the smoke Is …
So Fight the Dragon
Once there were two young brothers playing together on the living room floor. Well, they were not really playing together, but they were playing at the same time, and without very much conflict. Their parents were both there, sitting and reading. There were toys all over the floor, but one in particular was under the …
Koinonia or Conflict
The Lord Jesus is seated at the head of this Table, in His resurrected triumph, and yet this is also a meal where His body and blood are on the Table. Not only this, but He teaches us that we are His body, we are of His flesh and of His bone. We are one …