“Humility is hard. In order to look back at the past, we have to (metaphorically) turn our backs on the future. This means, among other things, that the future can sneak up on us” (Black and Tan, p. 9).
Foundationless Respect
“When such attempts don’t work, which they haven’t, we careen off in another direction. So our egalitarian age is currently insisting, for some reason, that we now learn to respect ‘diversity,’ but it can give no coherent reason, given its relativistic premises, why we should do so. Without confidence in God’s creation design, we have …
The Sound of Splintering
Come before the Father now, and do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we worship the Lord according to His Word, we reflect His glory into the world. But in the Bible the word glory is more than just a simple matter of brightness; it also carries the idea of weight. …
A Table, Not a Trophy
In the book of 1 Corinthians Paul sets a number of disorders concerning the Lord’s Supper straight, presumably addressing the more significant disorders. But there were other disorders, as indicated by his closing words on the subject, where he said “the rest will I set in order when I come.” So we do not come …
A Sorry and Pathetic Business
The critical reviews are starting to roll in. Over at New West, Joan Opyr gives her readers a jaundiced view of the recent doings at our Trinity Fest. The thing that seemed to irritate her the most was the concept of conservative Calvinists playing rock music and the blues. But this is what we have …
Tamerlane the Swede
“At the same time, the fact that I am willing to teach on historical subjects [as a minister] does not mean that I somehow think I am infallible. I have been wrong on numerous points over the years — sometimes the mistake is mine, and sometimes a source leads me astray. The point of all …
Upside Down and Backwards
“Because one of the male strengths is simple-mindedness, men tend to evaluate all things according to the sort of criterion (fixed in their minds sometime in junior high) best illustrated by arm-wrestling contests or a footrace. Life is simple — stronger and faster is better. And because life is also a contest, everyone is measured …
Laid Out On The Altar
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Father of all, we come before You in order to be laid bare before You. We know that Your Word is sharper than any two-edged sword, and will cut us apart, as the priestly knife used to cut apart the sacrifical animals …
Partaking Together
Jesus tells us to do certain things in order to commune with Him. These things are not only to be done, they are to be done in a certain way. The service of the Passover was the time when He instituted the fellowship of the Lord’s Supper, and we are to begin where we are …
Pietism and Piety
As we grow in our knowledge of biblical doctrine, and as we expand the boundaries of what we know under the heading of a “biblical world view,” we have to be careful about one of the oldest traps in Christendom. Knowledge puffs up, St. Paul tells us, but love builds up. Graduate school is not …