When we consider the question of how we can know the truth, know what is lovely, and know what is good, we frequently neglect to address the more fundamental issue, which is the nature of the knowers. We assume certain things about the problem of knowledge, and this drives the solutions we come up with. …
Foundations of Marriage IX
Introduction: This week we will be addressing masculinity, and how men are different from women. Next week, the topic will be femininity, and how women are different from men. The central concern here is not biology (male and female), but the broader question of masculinity and femininity. The Text: “But I would have you know, …
Church Authority
“Whenever men abandon that Word, they frequently want the Church to speak authoritatively in her own voice, supplanting the Word with the traditions of men. But this does not make Church authority suspect, for when the Church is governed by the authority of the Word, the Church speaks authoritatively as well . . . but …
Savior and Healer
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 30 As we make applications of biblical principles, one of the primary places we should make application is in the realm of health. In Scripture, the word for savior and healer are the same word. A central part of Christ’s …
The Most Important Creed
“But he may continue to protest. He does not believe in creeds because he does believe in the Bible–the Bible only. Isn’t this the classical Protestant doctrine of sola Scriptura? Not exactly. There is no refuge from the necessity of creeds. When a man opens his Bible, the first thing he encounters–the table of contents–is …
Arguing With God/Psalm 30
In this psalm we find another inspiring pattern for prayer—and it is the kind of prayer that can be offered up by a sinner. David offers up a petition here, and the need for the petition was created by his own spiritual carelessness. But we serve and worship a God who forgives. “I will extol …
Created for the Good Work of Worship
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Father and Jehovah God, You called forth the heavens and earth out of nothing. You separated the night from the day, and the waters from the dry land, and the woman from the man. Father, we worship and adore You, the Lord …
Gird Up Your Loins
Always beware of unexamined assumptions. When we speak and act, we do so on the basis of what we instinctively know to be the case. When we are right, this is right and proper—it is how we were created to live. We cannot be examining all our assumptions constantly. We have to live on the …
The Taste of Fear
The Bible does not teach us that the Table must be protected from unfaithful people. Rather, the Bible teaches us that unfaithful people must be protected from the Table. This Table is a winnowing fan, a fan that separates the wheat from the chaff. This Table deals with us as we come to it. To …
Semiotics In Narnia
I can only take small doses at a time, but I am continuing to labor manfully away at getting through The Next Reformation by Carl Raschke. What a piece of turgid work! After telling us that Nietzsche was grossly misunderstood (fair enough) and pointing out that he was not responsible for various Third Reichian applications …