This morning the ministry of the Word will be brought by Pastor Steve Schlissel, of Messiah’s Congregation in Brooklyn, New York. We of course welcome him in the name of Jesus Christ, and declare grace and peace to him, and to his wife Jeannie, and his daughter Rebekah. But he is not here as a …
Nothing But Pushing and Pulling
The Scripture takes a dim view of those who like to circulate juicy information. “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Prov. 11:13). But we have to do two things here — we have to note the contrast between the talebearer and the man with a faithful …
Lies and Advertising
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 79 “A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame” (Prov. 13:5). An important part of business is the practice of advertising and marketing. And for Christians, not only is it important to learn …
Worldliness As Normal
“Worldliness, as we have seen, is that set of practices in a society, its values and ways of looking at life, that make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” [David Wells, God in the Wasteland (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994), p. 86.]
Mail Order Minister
“When a pastor retires or dies, the usual tendency is to scramble, form a pastoral search committee, and . . . you know the rest of the drill. An outsider, someone who is not in touch with the local and organic life of that particular congregation, is called, and he steps into the pastorate. His …
Lots of Disposable Income
“In a significant departure from traditional filmmaking, the videos typically jettison any sort of meaningful narrative in favor of a collage of discordant and often surreal images. The artistic goal of rock videos is not reasoned discourse but a visceral response, an emotional reaction that is ultimately plugged into the consumer culture . . . …
Future Generations of Ministry
“Nevertheless, a local church that takes its mission of evangelism and discipleship seriously should be able to fully train leaders for service in the local church. Any calling that is incapable of reproducing itself is incompetent in that calling. This training is for her own leaders in the years to come. A thriving church can …
Discipline and Persecution
“Mythology is the very best school in the training of silence. We never hesitate between the Bible and mythology. We are classicists first, romantics second, and primitives when necessary, modernists with a fury, neoprimitives when we are disgusted with modernism, gnostics always, but biblical never” (Rene Girard, The Scapegoat, pp. 104-105). Girard’s book is a …
So Raise Your Hands to His Commands
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Forgive me now, oh Lord and God And let your mercies come. Descend from heaven and save me here, According to Your mercy now, According to Your kindly Word. Then I will have an answer for The one who brings rebuke. My …
The Fence-Climbing CEO
Once there was a man who was very disgruntled with his employer, and so he began to spread stories around the workplace about all the awful things his employer had done. But the only thing the employer had really done was fail to promote this employee rapidly enough for his liking. Other charges, however, were …