The Lord Jesus compares His followers to two things, salt and light (Matt. 5:13-14). Salt that loses its saltiness is despised by men, and as a consequence is walked on. Light that is hidden from men is not something they respond to at all—because it is hidden from them. So we either have a no …
On Ransacking the Penumbrae
When confronted with the prospect of a devolution into tyranny, most Christians are clear on the nature of such tyranny, and the fact that it is bad, but are unclear on their liberty to oppose and disregard it. No, I should say more — on their duty to oppose and disregard it. The evangelical baker …
Numerous Piles of Blue Ruination
Boehner has announced that he disagrees with the growing calls for the impeachment of Obama. This is tactically shrewd, but nobody should mistake what I mean by tactically shrewd. When Jesus said that a king should take care to determine whether his ten thousand could take the king with twenty thousand, He was not saying …
Like Liturgy and Love
“The Bible routinely opposes things that are not necessarily opposed to each other. Pastoral opposition is not the same thing as logical opposition” (Against the Church, p. 147).
Mystery and Contradiction
The other day I said this about logic: “if it is a wooly-mindedness that is embraced on purpose, it is heresy. This is because denying the law of non-contradiction is the royal gateway to every heresy imaginable.” Given the incoherent nature of the days we live in, I thought it was neccessary to unpack this …
He’ll Never Think of Looking Here
“Scripture teaches us, and history shows us, that the very best hiding places [from the grace of God], at least for a brief time, are found in the things of God — the church, the Bible, the sacraments, the catechism, the ministry, the Internet theology debates, the church splits over a bunch of nothing, the …
The Natural Man Baptized
“But the natural man, the unconverted man, the unregenerate man, is the same kind of man whether he is inside the covenant or outside it, with the difference that reprobates inside the covenant have greater condemnation” (Against the Church, p. 143).
Being Out of Place Doesn’t Mean Uncomfortable . . .
I had the pleasure of filling the pulpit this morning at All Souls in Lewiston, a church plant of Christ Church. We were joined there by IV Conerly, who was visiting, along with the Chocolate Knox and his delightful family. After the service IV gave us his recent (rap) album entitled The Unknown God. A …
Still Living Out of Boxes . . .
You are a long-suffering bunch, and this is certainly to be commended. I have been messing around computer-wise for a number of months, and the effects have been clearly visible, some of them mud-fence ugly visible. I wanted to take this moment to praise you, and for not swearing at me in the comments. I …
Love and Loyalty: A Meditation on the Fourth
The other day I tweeted this, and it drew more than the usual number of comments, and I thought I needed to develop it. Here is the tweet. “Feel uncomfortable at a patriotic worship service? Don’t feel superior if you would also feel uncomfortable at a Fourth of July parade.” The comments were mostly generated …