The blasphemous fiasco of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics blew up while I was traveling, and so I begin by recognizing that I am late to the party. I would apologize for that if it were in any ...
Olympic Blasphemy Because, Why Not?
A Deeper Right Than Being Right
“Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Col. 3:12-13). In this passage, Paul does not just tell the …
Down in My Heart
“So the language of true heart conversion is the language of Scripture, not primarily the language of systematics. It ought to be a routine part of our language also.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 827
Just Happens Sometimes
Life in the Father
“The new life I am talking about consists of a Father transplant . . . Certain covenant members have God for their father in one senses (John 8:37), and the devil for their father in another (John 8:44). Other covenant members have only God for their Father (John 8:42). If God is your Father, in this sense, then you love Jesus, pure and simple, and the devil is not your father in any sense.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, p. 826
Smashmouth Incrementalism and the Trump Train
Introduction: The last month has seen a number of remarkable and momentous events. We may begin with Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance, the pressure on him to step down, and the palace intrigue ...
Christ Our Perseverance
“The reason for stating it this way is that a theological dilemma is created if we postulate that every baptized Christian is given all of Christ, in the same ways and in the same respect, and that some of them ‘commit suicide.’ If this is the case, and if some covenant members can in fact commit that spiritual suicide, then this has to mean that Christ is not our perseverance, and that it has to come to us (if it comes to us) in some other fashion. If it comes from within ourselves, then this pushes us in an Arminian direction. If it comes from God, then God is doing something salvific for the elect apart from Christ, which would create a separate cluster of problems. The only way I can see that extricates us from this dilemma is to opt for the classic Reformation understanding of the new birth—that there must be a qualitative distinction in those who are saved, a distinction separating them from unsaved covenant members. They are not all Israel that are of Israel (Rom. 9:6).”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, pp. 825-826
Letters in the Dog Days Come Early
Letter to the Editor: What concerns us is our pastor's insistence on remaining unpolitical. He has mentioned in sermons that he wants to be focused on the gospel and not politics. I suspect ...
Creeds and Confessions
“This, in my view, confused the difference between the early creeds of the Church—which distinguished Christian from non-Christian—and the confessions of the Reformation era—which distinguished Reformed from Lutheran, and so on. There is no such thing as an ‘in-house’ heretic. Heretics ought to be rejected by every Christian communion, and not just by one or two of them.”
The Auburn Avenue Chronicles Vol. 2, pp. 824-825
A Rejoinder to Internet Randos on the Jews, NatCon4, and a Couple of Hindus
Introduction: Over the last few weeks, a few different things have happened that have set off various comment threads, in which Internet Randos have arisen to take me to task for continuing to be a ...