One of the great problems we have in studying issues of church government is that we too readily start with the New Testament, and try to build our doctrine there from scratch. But when the New Testament writers used the term elder, the readers already knew what that word meant, and moreover, they had known …
Thinking Outside the Cliche
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 47 Those who are interested in improving their performance in business will find no shortage of books offering to help along the way. The American market is glutted with “guru management” books of all kinds. Those who are interested in …
Some Thinking to Do
Before I graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, I enlisted in the Navy on a delayed entry program. I had grown up in Annapolis and the idea of doing anything but joining the Navy had (I think) never occurred to me. So my parents moved from Ann Arbor to Moscow, Idaho, and I …
Pentecost in Public
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Our Father and God, we praise You now in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. You are the one who poured out the Holy Spirit on the great day of Pentecost, and there empowered Your Church to be Your people forever and …
Music for Jericho
We rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, who was poured out upon us so that we could be the true Israel of God in a pagan and dark world. As the true Israel of God, we are summoned and equipped to confront and overcome the paganism of the unbelieving world. In …
God of Surprises
We serve and worship the God of surprises. Before Christ came, the Jewish people were expecting God to send His Messiah, and He would deliver His people from the Romans, overcome their enemies, and bring in the resurrection. But God is the God of surprises. He did all this, but not in the way expected. …
Different Weights and Measures
Hypocrisy is the application of a double standard in favor of (surprise!) one’s very own self. The Intoleristas in Moscow (and probably in your town as well) are particularly adept at this. They excel in demanding a wooden, clunky, inflexible standard of law for their adversaries, and for themselves, well — that’s what ethical relativism …
Sauce for the Goose
Suppose something showed up at an official government kind of place Monday morning, and it looked something like this: TO: CITY OF MOSCOW ZONING ADMINISTRATOR RE: ZONING COMPLAINT PER MCC 4-11-7 DATE: MAY 16, 2005 COMPLAINT The Moscow Food Co-Op is expressly prohibited from conducting business at its intended location on 5th and Washington in …
Trochaic Ruminations
In the Northwest called Pacific In a town near Moscow Mountain Was a church that riled the natives, A tribe they called Intolerista. This tribe attacked with shrill invective, With keening and progressive yodling, Along with fruit and some dead-catting. Now in God’s kindly providences, Displaying all His sovereign mercies, The names of all these …
Thomas
So poetry is broken speech, Metaphor shattered. Not broken prose But prose broken- That resurrection power Might be displayed, And like the Word These tiny words Can also then be called and named sons of God. Yet how many men Have been crucified? With broken legs, They suffocate. A pole upright, Half-pound nails And murderous …