Jesus comes now to the outskirts of the City of David, and does so in all authority. He is the Son of David, arrived to claim His inheritance. Bartimaeus has set the stage for this by calling upon Jesus as the Son of David, and Mark emphasizes the point by how he cites the praises …
The Bane of Clever Preachers
“The devil is a greater scholar than you, and a nimbler disputant; he can ‘transform himself into an angel of light’ to deceive. He will get within you and trip up your heels before you are aware; he will play the juggler with you undiscerned, and cheat you of your faith and innocency, and you …
Conflict with Christians
The latest round of slander against us has come up with a new one, or at least an old one expressed in a new way. This slander is the argument for the necessity of anonymity, for if our local critics identified themselves, so the thinking goes, we would send some deacons around to bust their …
Questions for Louisiana
Just a couple of brief comments. The last week has been revelatory on the Louisiana Presbytery front, to put it mildly. Now I can ask for clarifications all I want, and am unlikely to get them from any official source. Why should I? I am not a player in this, but I am a commentator. …
Sinning Against Thoughtfulness
We are living in a generation of great upheaval and change. One of the results of this is that many Christians have found themselves in a slippery place, not knowing quite how to behave. As the gospel works through a culture, that culture is transformed, and many external cultural aids to godliness are developed. This …
The Ward Churchill Wing of FV Criticism
I want us to keep our eye on the ball, which is the upcoming trial of Louisiana Presbytery before the Standing Judicial Commission. I have been writing about my deep concerns that the desire of some in the PCA to get at Steve Wilkins is so profound that they are willing to take out a …
Thanksgiving 2007 and the New Atheism
If it were not so clunky, Thanksgiving should actually be subtitled National Apologetics Day. The apostle Paul tells us that there are two things that the unbeliever wants to suppress, and those two things are the Godness of God, and our consequent responsibility to render thanks to Him. Thanksgiving is really the central epistemological duty …
Mudgobbing and Deadcatting
I am not going to spend a great of time today answering this — it is Thanksgiving after all — but I thought I should let you know about it, and make two quick observations. First, our FV critics are so bent on pursuing their particular “defense of the gospel” that they are willing to …
A Whole Lot Creepier Than I Remember It
Okay, I want to go up the stairs one at a time here. Discussion of the ins and outs of this is continuing over here, for those who are interested. Let’s begin with first principles — the basic one being the presumption of innocence for the accused. This is not some secular American ideal that …
Bartimaeus, Son of Faith
We come now to the last healing miracle recorded by Mark. We are on the threshold of the Lord’s suffering at Jerusalem. He has set His face to go there, knowing what will occur when He arrives. And He has come now to Jericho, which is about eighteen miles away from His abandonment by the …