The Word of life, bread for the world, was born in Bethlehem. The name Bethlehem means House of Bread. So Bethlehem was the bakery of God, and that is where the ovens of God were located. This bread, like all true offerings to God, was a sweet-smelling savor. When we are done with the process, …
Advent Adventure: Advent IV
Introduction: Our word Advent comes from the Latin advenire, which means “to arrive.” It obviously looks forward to the arrival of the Messiah, the birth of the Prince, the coming of Immanuel. Our word for adventure has the same root, but comes to us by a different route. From wandering, traveling, happening upon things by …
Not the Fun House Mirrors
Humility is a greatly misunderstood grace or virtue. Too many Christians think of it as trying to think what you don’t think, see what you don’t see, and know what you don’t actually know. This approach to humility is closer to the eastern and mystical way of emptying yourself than it is to the biblical …
Words in the Hand and Cup
When we commune together, we are also communicating. When we commune, we are conversing. And the words we speak are part of the food. The words of the Lord Jesus are true nourishment. “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they …
Advent Running Over: Advent III
Introduction: We have been considering Advent as a time of anticipatory celebration. It is a time of joy, longing, joy, yearning, joy, and preparation. It should not be a time in which you afflict your souls. We do not intend to mark Advent as a penitential season. A penitential season should follow sin, not anticipate …
Christ Is In Your Brother
Getting along with people you differ with can be difficult on two levels. The first level is the basic one of “ego surrender,” recognizing that the other person might have a point, or worse, might be entirely correct. This is addressed rightly when you embrace the humility of confessing your sin, your fault, your mistake. …
A Bucket With No Bottom
When we come to the Table, we are coming to receive a gift. But in order to come rightly, in order to be able to enjoy receiving the gift, we must at the same time be gladly giving a gift. This is the meaning of koinonia fellowship. In this meal, God gives Himself. He gives …
Be Careful Little Brain, What You’re Sure Of
“That which a man knows with certainty, will affect his character” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 338).
The Divine Glory, Welterweight Division
“This is not a [book] to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” Attributed to Dorothy Parker I believe I mentioned in passing that I recently picked up Greg Boyd’s God at War. I was pursuing more information on the divine council, having read Michael Heiser’s fine books on that topic, …
The End of Blind Alleys
Last week Peter Leithart and I sat down to discuss some of the implications of his recent book, The End of Protestantism. If you are interested, the audio from that discussion can be found here. The question we were pursuing was this one: “Does the gospel require us to pursue and promote unity among Protestants, …