“Thus with the ‘alternative’ face lift, ‘rebellion’ continues to perform its traditional function of justifying the economy’s ever-accelerating cycles of obsolescence with admirable efficiency . . . Ever since the 1960s hip has been the native tongue of advertising, ‘antiestablishment’ the vocabulary by which we are taught to cast off our old possessions and buy …
Satire As Prophecy
“We are Bible people, and we name our churches Bible churches, and we go to Bible studies, although Bibles are increasingly rare at them, and our holy hardware stores make megabucks selling study Bibles for ‘whatever ails ya.’ But the problem with making up titles of such Bible versions to illustrate a point here is …
An Unscientific Poll
I need to take an unscientific poll. Does your screen prefer the font size of the previous post, or do you prefer the one before that? Which is easier to read? I am fooling around a little bit, and would like to finally settle in your comfy zone. Because that’s what this blog is really …
Being Evangelical For the Time Being
Time for our daily dose of squirting water down the hole into the postmodern rabbit warren, as part of my on-going project of trying to prevent these guys from emerging into the garden of orthodoxy in order to nibble on the carrots of truth. In his next chapter, Brian McLaren discusses why he is still …
The Mystery of Incarnate Godliness
Godly summaries of biblical teaching are inescapable, whatever we may call them. They may be creeds, catechisms, systematic theologies or sermons, but when it is done properly, the result is consistently honoring to God. But of course, we need to take care to learn what “done properly” means from the pages of Scripture itself. Thus, …
Immanuel, Born of a Virgin
We are in Advent, and we look forward to celebrating the birth of the Messiah. But we must do so as biblically based Christians-always building on the bedrock of the Word. Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or …
Rejoicing in Forgiveness
As His passion drew near, the Lord told His disciples that He desired to eat the Passover with them, but He said this in a way that emphasized that desire strongly. He said, “With desire I have desired . . .” As far as it goes, it is good that we have an accurate view …
Indispensable Men
As God allows us to stumble toward more mature forms of worship and government, we must take great care. An essential part of cultural maturity in community is that places of honor will develop. This is inescapable. Jesus did not command the Jews to tear out the chief seats in the synagogues and to level …
Social Totemization
“Brands are also a handy device for papering over nasty ambiguities like how things are made and what product is ‘right’ for a person’s socioeconomic standing and lifestyle. This strategy has been taken to ridiculous extremes, as in the case of sunglasses, hiking shoes, water, beer, and countless other cases where the most everyday products …
Top to Bottom, Front to Back
“So before there can be any kind of restoration of national dignity in the civil realm, there must absolutely be a reformation in the Church — top to bottom, stem to stern, from the front of the face to the back of the head. Modern evangelicalism is not the solution to America’s problems, modern evangelicalism …