Our Father in heaven, You are the Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives its name. We worship You now in the name of Jesus Christ, Your eternal Son, and we ask You to receive us for His sake. We look to You, wanting Your Holy Spirit to bind us together …
Short History of Calvinism
The History of the Debate This installment will not be exegetical. The purpose is simply to provide a historical backdrop for understanding how the debate about the biblical exegesis has been conducted, and when. We will limit our discussion to the history of the Christian church, although it is important to recognize that this is …
Knowing the Father
Here is N.T. Wright on the impact of the gospel. “On this basis, Paul argues in Romans 5-8 that all who believe this gospel are the true, sin-forgiven, people of God, who are thus assured of their future salvation, which will consist in their resurrection as one aspect of the renewal of all of God’s …
God Promises Us Our Children
A few days ago, I wrote about how I became a paedobaptist. I attributed that change to a connection that was shown to me between the promises of God for our children and the practice of infant baptism. That connection stirred up a reasonable question out there, which I would like to try to answer …
Different Kinds of Snakes
The fundamental problem with boasting is only connected to the direct object in one sense. The one who boasts must boast in the Lord. A man who boasts in the Lord is guiltless because the object is right (2 Cor. 10:17). But if someone boasts in anything on this side of the Creator/creature divide, the …
Selfishness and Self-Interest
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16 11) Growing Dominion, Part 41 No one needs to teach us the arts of selfishness, and the related arts of rationalization. No one has to have special classes for the toddlers in the nursery in order to teach them how to grab for toys, …
Faith As A Badge
N.T. Wright has some trouble seeing that old scoundrel Pelagius in places where I think we should be able to see him quite plainly. For example, Wright says, “Once we release Paul’s justification-language from the burden of having to describe ‘how someone becomes a Christian’, however, this is simply no longer a problem. There is …
Judge Not
Who do not live in a discriminating age. In fact, we have so little ability left in discrimination that we even think that it is an evil thing to do. But this is a very real problem — and some have sought support from this passage in defense of their error. “Judge not, that you …
Marriage From the Ground Up
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! God of glory, we come before You now in the majesty of Jesus Christ, and are glad to present ourselves to You in His name. You have spoken the universe into existence. You fashioned the earth and the sun and the moon. …
John Paul II
Yesterday marked the passing of Pope John Paul II. As we gather this morning for worship, we do so as convinced, practicing and confessional Protestants, who do not believe that the Reformation was a tragic mistake. We are mindful of the chasm that still separates us from our neighbors in the Roman Catholic communion. Nevertheless, …