“We are of course missing the point of the Lord’s doctrine [Matt. 10:29-30] if we say, ‘Yes, God knows all about the sparrows, but where does the Bible say He keeps track of swallows?’ Jesus is giving us one blunt example in order to show us the extremities of God’s knowledge. He invites us to …
Around This Table
Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for this Lord’s Day. We thank You for the fellowship we share around this table, and for the arrival here of good friends. We praise Your name for the gift of wine, and the salvation it represents. We thank You for the food, and for the diligent and …
Playing The Cult Card
One of the things that liberals did successfully for quite some time was play the race card. One of the things that conservatives (eventually) did in response was name the practice, calling it something like “playing the race card.” Little tricks of illusion and distraction in politics operate much the same way that tricks of …
Doctor, You’re Cutting Too Deep. You’re Scratching the Table.
Parents in Proverbs
As we consider the teaching of Proverbs on various issues, we find that one central emphasis of the book is the importance of right family relationships. Proverbs sets before us the biblical and the unbliblical family. “There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother” (Prov. 30:11). Unfortunately, ours is …
Sloth
The seven deadly sins? Where does that categorization come from? The question can be addressed in two ways—historical and systematic. The historical question is the simpler of the two. Gregory the Great (late 6th century) is responsible for the list as we have it today. The list is an exercise in moral systematics—looking for a …
Where We Got All the Uber-Goobers
“It took Nietzsche to philosophize out of Wagner’s music a program for cultural revolution that would shake the coming age to its foundation. The twentieth century was to become the proving ground for Nietzschean philosophy in its various permutations. There were the Nazis, and then there was the global cultural revolution of 1968-1969, and then …
Every Tuft of Grass
“God knows every bird of the mountains [Ps. 50:10-11]. His knowledge of the universe is much more than a grand, broad knowledge — it extends down to minute particulars. God knows far more than the correct number of galaxies; He knows all the movements of the mockingbird in your backyard–every dive, every step, every movement, …
Can’t Even See the Tablecloth
The eating of this meal is annexed to a great promise made by Jesus Christ. He says that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, we have no life in us. Conversely, if we partake, then Jesus Christ promises to raise us up at the last day. “This …
The Glory of Repetition
Remember the glory of routine. The sun comes up every morning, and when it did so this morning, it did not come up tired and listless, muttering something about six thousand years of this. The thing which keeps us from exulting in repetitive actions is simply this – sin. We are called to a life …