We come now to the main point of all the stories we have been telling, that is to say, we have come to the story of the Lord Jesus. This is a very difficult story to tell, for at least two reasons. First, no storyteller or preacher is really sufficient for the task. The apostle …
Digory and the Postmodern Witch
When Digory refused to listen to the witch, it was because he had promised. He had learned certain things that little boys always ought to learn, and this includes little emergent boys. Not only had he learned that you should keep your promises, he had also learned not to steal, which had come in handy …
Ethical Dyslexia
“The apostle Paul says, ‘For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake’ (2 Cor. 4:5). In the biblical pattern, arrogance preaches self while humility preaches Christ. In the modern world, we see how the reality of our inescapable concept takes over. In order to revolt against …
Happy Are The People
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! O Lord our God, we bless the Lord, Our strength, and the one who teaches strength; You teach our hands for war, And our fingers for fighting. You are goodness itself, our goodness. You are our fortress, and high tower Our deliverer, …
Insult and Neutrality
When the question of “trading insults” comes up, one of the first things we should see is how the false assumption of neutrality has crept into our thinking. An insult is not simple invective, detached from questions of truth. When two football teams play, we require a level playing field, a penalty for one team …
What Standard?
By what standard? This is one of my favorite questions, and we should ask it more often than we do. This includes those times when the right course of action is disputed among Christians, or when we are honestly confused about what we ought to do. What standard are we using? On paper, the answer …
This is the Place
We are now assembled in the throne room of the Ancient of Days. We are in the presence of the one who gave to the Son of Man universal dominion and glory, and a kingdom, so that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. From the east to the west, His name will be …
The Cup of God”s Forgetfulness
The kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, is a kingdom of grace. And this means that when we are coming into the presence of Christ, the prince over this kingdom, we are not coming into the presence of an unforgiving scorekeeper. We too often project our lack of forgiveness onto Him. We assume that He is …
False Alternatives
Emergent thinkers like to believe that they are advocating a move from the “absolute to the authentic.” But of course, the fact that these are a couple of adjectives being used as abstractions means that we do not yet know what we are talking about. Moving from the “absolute” to the “authentic” blends right in …
Definitions of Arrogance
“We see the same thing in the conflict between biblical and modern theories of preaching. The biblical preacher is a herald, a steward. He has been entrusted to declare something that would have been true if he had never been born. He is to preach it with a strong view of his own ultimate irrelevance. …