Some of the lessons that God appoints for His people to learn from time to time are the lessons that come with scandal. Whenever a situation arises within the Christian community that shocks, grieves, angers, or scandalizes the people generally, we have to remember that this also is from the hand of God. And because …
Head and Heart
The metaphor we use of head and heart is not really a scriptural metaphor, but we are referring to a profound scriptural truth when we use it. James points to the truth that this metaphor of ours is highlighting when he talks about hearing the word and doing the word. But there are certain lessons …
In the Name of Relevance
While recently walking in the meadows of public discourse, William Bennett stepped in the cow pie of truth. He mentioned that if evil, pragmatic outcomes were your only consideration, you could reduce crime by evil means. He said, “…if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort …
Reductio Ad Infernum
One of the standard observations made against the so-called legitimization of homosexual “marriages” in our country is that once you throw the biblical standard of marriage out (one man, one woman, ideally one time), you have not just opened the door for homosexual unions, but also for every other kind of union the troubled gonads …
Apostles or Refugees?
All Christians at all times live in the culture they live in. The ancient Christian in Ephesus spoke Greek and wore the clothes available for purchase in that city. When he went for lunch, certain foods were available to him and other foods were not. At the same time, he was called to live in …
Got My Fingers Crossed!
A few days ago, I recorded here the news that the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression had included Southern Slavery As It Was on their list of banned books. There was an article about this in the UI student newspaper, and today William Ramsey, one of our our intolerista professors here, wrote to the …
A Form of Battle
Our gracious God, we glory in You, and in what You have given to us. We know that what we are doing here — resting in You — is actually a form of battle. We thank You for overcoming our enemies while we sit at table. We thank You for the means You have selected …
Solomon in All His Glory
The name of Solomon is still evocative today. He is a striking picture of a man who possesses. In fact, his name is most familiar to us as a possessive adjective—Solomon’s wisdom, Solomon’s mines, Solomon’s wives, Solomon’s wealth, Solomon’s temple. And this characteristic of possession is the basis of the story we must tell about …
Look At This
Some of you may be interested in the work and ministry of Steve Beck, found here. But the thing I wanted to encourage you to look at is a DVD he recently put together that walks you step by step, mouse click to mouse click, in the making and selling of recordings. You can find …
Idleness and Gossip
Everyone knows that one of the sins of the tongue is gossip, but we are sometimes vague about what actually constitutes the sin. Gossip is not a sin that consists of simply passing on information. Saying something like, “Did you hear that Susan is engaged now?” is not gossip. Gossip is the sin of passing …