“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 …
From Torquemada to Stalin
At this table, we remember Christ and Him crucified. In the death of Jesus, it was not sufficient for Him simply to die—He could not have died in His sleep for our sins. It was necessary for Him to be betrayed by the chief priests, and to be run through a kangaroo trial. It was …
Me and WalMart Some More
Now that my Wal Mart master plan has been exposed, the time has come for me to reveal my ownership and backing of the Moscow Civic Association. So I confess it. The whole thing was my idea . . . kind of a back-handed way of making Moscow liberals look bad. Just get them in …
Delighted in Gratitude
Our Father and gracious God, we thank You for the arrival of yet another Lord’s Day. The food before us illustrates one more time how much You love us, and one more time, we are delighted to show our gratitude. We pray that You would be honored in our fellowship, in our eating, and in …
Worldliness and Modernity
“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 …