“May I please come in?” the new wine said. The old wineskin looked at the new wine with eyes kind of squinty. “I am not sure that would be entirely wise.” “Nevertheless, that is my request.” “Would you promise to be good?” “I can promise to act according to my nature.” “That is what I …
The Health Hobby
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 17 We do not often think of ourselves as rich, but we are. We tend to grade on a curve, and since most of the people around us do not live in third world conditions, we do not factor that …
The Warrior God/Psalm 18
This psalm is also found with some variations in 2 Samuel 22, and appears to have been written near the end of David’s life. In this form, it is likely a composite, and refers to different occasions of deliverance over the course of David’s life, but most notably to those times when God delivered David …
Symbolism Creates
The Word is prior to the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This means that everything about that Word was prior to everything in the world. The world does not constitute reality; rather, the world reflects reality. Unlike the materialistic scientist, we do …
Walking Oaths
In the Lord’s Prayer, Christ teaches us to hallow God’s name. This duty is a great one, but in our era it is not recognized as such. Some of the other commandments are generally recognized as important. As we shall see, this is not the case with this commandment, and repentance is in order. Countless …
The Meaning of Mercy
We now see a progression of thought in the Beatitudes. We began with the man who was poor in spirit, who was in mourning over his own sin. The Bible teaches that when a man is humbled, then God will lift him up. We see that here. God has shown mercy, and the recipients are …
Sabbath Authority
As God has shown His kindness to us, one of the most important cultural developments in Moscow over the last several years is the growing observance of the Sabbath feast. The practice, as it has been developing in many homes, marks the Lord’s Day as beginning Saturday night at 6pm with the Sabbath dinner, or …
Worship Tremors
If God in His grace allows this service of worship to be an earthquake, the tremors will be felt elsewhere. But this quake will not happen as the result of anything we might do or think up. Our service to Him is all of grace; if it is right, then He has done it. But …
Spare Us Temptation
Our Father in heaven, we hallow and reverence Your name as the Lord Jesus taught us to do. We ask that Your kingdom would continue to be manifested on the earth, as we glorify the name of Your Son in heaven. We ask for our daily bread, and thank You for what is before us …
Wineskins and Other Metaphors
A recent letter writer to Touchstone magazine (responding to a review of a couple of D.G. Hart’s books) says this: “If one wishes to locate a separate Protestant “confessional” tradition, where should one go? Conservative American Protestantism is root and branch a tradition that depends for its existence and vitality on revivalism and the historical …