“Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd. Modernity is worldliness, and it has concealed its values so adroitly in the abundance, the comfort, and the wizardry of our age that even those who call themselves the people of God seldom recognize them for what they are.” [David Wells, …
Certification and the Ministry
“The disease has so far progressed that we now tend to assume that graduate school honors are the qualifications we should look for in a ministerial candidate. Paul’s requirements for a godly ministry are set aside, and we think that it is all right to do this because the man whose marriage and family are …
No Sacrifice Remains
The author of Hebrews continues his comparison between the priestly order of Melchizedek and the priestly order of Levi. As we shall see, understanding the difference makes an immense practical difference. “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest …
Yeat’s Falcon
“We are like Yeat’s falcon, increasingly oblivious to the voice of the falconer. The center no longer holds. All is flung to the periphery, where its meaning is lost . . . We have become T.S. Eliot’s ‘hollow men,’ without weight, for whom appearance and image must suffice.” [David Wells, God in the Wasteland (Grand …
The God of Calvin is the God of History
“Part of the reason the Reformed have been so influential in history is that they have such a strong doctrine of history. This in turn is because they have a strong doctrine of the providence of God over all history. And without that doctrine of providence, the whole thing starts to unravel” (The Paideia of …
Copyright Stuff
For those who are interested in the legal and ethical issues surrounding copyrights, particularly with regard to the republication of old public domain stuff, should check this out.
Ezra Nehemiah 13
Introduction: Laughter and mockery are inescapable. It is never a question of whether, but which. In a world where God has established the antithesis between righteousness and unrighteousness, it is never whether something is going to be ridiculous, but rather which thing is going to be ridiculous. The Text: And it came to pass in …
Ezra Nehemiah 12
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 …