Even though a great deal of historic Reformed theology was written in English, our native language, we do have to take care to note certain changes in the meanings of some words. When it comes to the Lord’s Supper, the great theologian John Owen said that Christ was exhibited in it. That same word is …
A Nut Brown Discomfort
Timothy LeCroy has written about ecumenism and the Eucharist here, and a couple of things come to mind. Please keep in mind that I write with the porridge of my Scots Calvinist heritage sticking to my ribs, so to speak, and while this does not blow up the ecumenical venture, it does make it more …
An Open Letter to an Angry Husband
NB: This letter is fictional with regard to the particulars, but with regard to the nature of the sins described, it is unfortunately not at all fictional. Consider it a composite portrait, with no particular man in mind. At the same time, if any individual husband recognizes himself in the portrait and humbles himself, I …
James and Elizabeth
We live in a world governed by glorious rotations and cycles. The earth spins, the moon revolves around the earth, and the earth revolves around the sun. Not only is this so, but the complexity is only beginning. Because the sun is also moving, the motion of the planets travels with it, and the whole …
Protestant and Proud
No, no, not that kind of pride. The good kind. The kind that nobody objects to, like when you are proud of your kid’s performance in the school play. Don’t think of this as a long sustained argument. Think of it more as a coherent rant. But I do not rant with beads of sweat …
Flow Like a Torrent
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #194 “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always …
All In
“The oration, in this view, is not so much a product of the man, as it is the man himself, — an embodiment of all his faculties and all his processes . . . The sermon is designed to produce an effect upon human character; and this, not upon its mere superficies, but its inmost …
On Christian Disobedience #3
Introduction: We continue to consider the increasingly relevant subject of Christian resistance to tyranny. But as we look to the Scriptures, beware of the danger of excitement over “right-wing red meat.” If ever a conflict with the magistrate comes, it must be a plain matter of submission to divine authority, and not an obvious example …
He Tenders His Love, and Tenderly
An older English word for offer is the word tender. The great theologian John Owen said that in the Lord’s Supper, the Lord Jesus tenders an offer of Himself, inviting us to receive him. We have echoes of this older use of the word here and there, as in the phrase legal tender on your …
A Mind To
We all know that character, and moods, and particular virtues and vices are characteristic of individuals. But they are also characteristic of groups of people—generations, tribes, nations, churches. You know what it is like to travel around our nation, finding that one part of the country is particularly friendly, while another is particularly industrious, and …