Introduction: As God restores His people to the land, He does not put them on a fast track. The process has many blessed moments, and a number of setbacks. This book of Nehemiah begins in the middle of one such setback. The Text: The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to …
Me and WalMart
Controversy is swirling around me again, and so I must break my silence. According to a thread on a local listserv, apparently my tentacles extend into the corporate offices of WalMart. It seems, according to this breathless analysis, that I am orchestrating a plot in which I am helping to bring a Super WalMart to …
Audible Confetti
“The public sphere, dominated as it is by the omnipresence of bureaucracy, systems of manufacturing, the machinery of capitalism, and the audible confetti spewing out of countless radios and television makes it virtually impossible to think that in this world God has any meaningful place. He may have a place somewhere, but not here, not …
How Are Arminians Saved?
“We must also confess that we do not determine the boundaries of salvation — God does. We must follow His lead and must not seek to have higher fellowship standards than He does. For example, did God fellowship with you and have communion with you before you understood these truths? Salvation is based on the …
In Which I Get to Use the Word Kvetch
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 78 “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Prov. 13:4). We all understand that the body of the sluggard desires, and yet has nothing. And that the body …
Believing A Lie
In our earlier discussions of charges, perjury, etc. we showed that it is contrary to Scripture to allow slanderers and defamers a free hand. The Scriptures require us to sift and weigh evidence in order to avoid participating in the false accuser’s sin after the fact. A judiciary proceeding that does not require independent confirmation, …
Postmodernity: Modernity’s Hiccup
“I have spoken of the emergence of the global cliché culture as the birthmark of Our Time. Until modernity was ushered into our world, cultures were always local. They were, by definition, sets of meanings and morals, beliefs and habits that arose in specific contexts of history and religion, a people’s social organization and place …
Can the Old Heart Act Like the New Heart?
“If the Father does not do the drawing, if the Father does not give it, then a man cannot come. But does this mean that no one ever comes? No — it means that everyone who comes has been drawn by God. And further, when the Father draws, that drawing is inexorable: ‘All that the …
Intelligent Design and Stealth Creationism
Last Friday, a friend named Scott Minnich addressed the weekly disputatio at New St. Andrews. Dr. Minnich is a professor in microbiology at the University of Idaho, and he testified in the recent trial in Dover, PA as an expert witness on behalf of Intelligent Design. His talk was fascinating — with regard to the …
Turn Back My Eyes From Vanity
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Educate me now, Oh Lord In Your statute law And I will keep it to the end, And I will walk within the way, Until this journey finally ends. Give an understanding heart So that I keep Your law, With all my …