Father, we thank You for yet another Sabbath, where we may sit down together with friends and other members of our family in order to prepare our hearts to worship You in the morning. We thank You for connecting us to one another the way You have done, and we pray that a spirit of …
Leprosy and Fraud
The ninth commandment prohibits judicial deceit and corruption, and we now come to the portion of Deuteronomy that treats this commandment. While lying is a way to break the ninth commandment “downstream,” the commandment is actually prohibiting “false witness” or what we would call “false testimony in a judicial setting” against one’s neighbor. We see …
Some Reasonable Questions
A group of ten PCA pastors have written an open letter about the PCA Study Committee on the “Federal Vision, New Perspective and Auburn Avenue Theology.” In the second paragraph of this letter, these men say, “We are not FV men.” Nevertheless, they have a number of very reasonable questions about the report, and good …
Banker Bait
When James I famously said, “No bishop, no king,” he was testifying to the truth an important and obvious principle. In any society where the Church is present in significant numbers, the worship and government of the Church will drive the shape of civil society. This is the case whether or not the worship and …
Children of Abraham
In a battle, foot solders focus rightly on the conflict right in front of them. Generals don’t have the luxury of that simplicity, and so they also have to think constantly about the larger strategic issues. Great generals do not just think of tactics on the field, but also of the larger strategic issues, up …
Resurrected Authority
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Gracious Father, Giver of all gifts, we thank You for the gift of Your most Holy Spirit. We thank You that in Your triune life there is no conflict between power and love. We know that in our flesh, we feel like …
The Center of the World
This is the day of Pentecost, in the year of our Lord 2007. We rejoice in this day, and we mark it, and we call upon our God to continue the work in His Church which He so wonderfully began in the second chapter of Acts. Over the course of time, the word Pentecost has …
When Remarriage is Theft
The conclusion of Moses’ exposition of the prohibition of theft may strike modern ears somewhat oddly. But understanding the laws in this context brings additional light to the question. “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath …
Pentecost and American Empire
INTRODUCTION: The giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is thought by many Christians to be the birthday of the Church. But because the Church existed throughout the Old Testament, perhaps it would be better to think of it as the Church’s wedding day, or better yet, as the day of her betrothal. Her wedding …
Is Norman Shepherd from MARS?
Let us assume for a moment, for the sake of discussion, that the criticisms contained in the MARS testimony are right on target. This will help us set up something that will reveal (with a great deal of clarity) why the testimony is a plain violation of the ninth commandment. Let us also take the …