Just a few things right out of the starting blocks. First, I agree with Tim Bayly’s argument on the creation order and women in civil leadership. Second, I don’t really agree with Geoffrey Botkin’s argument that the Sarah Palin move on the part of the GOP is the mother of all sucker plays. I agree …
Just A Tad
I have made reference before to the problems caused by persnickety third party perfectionism, and, you know, I still think that. But there is always a ditch on both sides of the road. And after watching some of the high finance monkeyshines over the last week, led by all the usual suspects, I was left …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 48
INTRODUCTION: This jubilant psalm is not credited to any particular writer, but the tone and content make it likely that it was written in the aftermath of the great victory over Ammon, Moab, and Edom in the reign of Jehoshaphat—the time he sent the choir out in front of the army. THE TEXT: “Great is …
Low Empire
One of the things we have to get straight is the right relationship of the Church to various manifestations of earthly civil government. And in our setting, in our time, we have to come to grips with American hegemony in the world. That fact is a given — how shall we respond to it? One …
And Be Sure to Check Out the Video
There are lots of roads to drive down as you make your way to get the book.
Plot Dragging a Little? Add Explosions!
“However, we find in drama today, and for my purpose specifically in film, two significant changes that were somewhat rare in our culture fifty years ago. First, the ethics of the hero’s action is now morally relativistic. And second, spectacle, or what Aristotle called ‘scenic effects,’ has upstaged all other dramatic elements” (Arthur Hunt, The …
Chased into a Minefield
You have asked me how it is possible to have a rebellious and out-of-control son when you have not ever thought of yourself as an indulgent father. You are right to see that radical indulgence on the part of a father is a disaster for sons — boys need direction, counsel, admonition, and correction. Of …
Rape and Incest Exceptions
One of the things I have learned as a pastor is that as a church grows and matures, the minister cannot assume that everybody is up to speed on something just because he “preached a sermon series” on that a little while before. It was probably more like five years before, and half the people …
Just a Little Favor?
Starting tomorrow, my debate with Christopher Hitchens is supposed to be placed in the front of all the Barnes & Noble stores around the country. I think there are about 700 hundred locations. So if you are out and about tomorrow, running errands or whatnot, could you please do me a favor? Could you just …
Neck Deep in Shoes
The last chapter of Cavanaugh’s book deals with scarcity and abundance. The juxtaposition of the two is set up (as he discusses it) in the contrast between scarcity as the driving force of free market economics, and the abundance of Christ as displayed in the Lord’s Supper. “The idea of scarcity assures that the normal …