Our worship here is the center of all our endeavors in the surrounding community. We look to God here, now, for His own sake. But at the same time, the right worship of God should inform, drive, and inspire all our efforts at local culture building. Our problem has been that because our worship has …
Transactions of Grace/Psalm 6
We come now to one of many penitential psalms — psalms expressing grief and sorrow over sin, with a cry for God to extend His mercy and grace. “O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger . . .” (Ps. 6:1-10). Again, this is a psalm of David. We are not given the occasion for …
God is No Miser
The Table of the Lord is a rich table, one that is filled with all good things. We who have been invited to that Table are not filled with all good things. The point, one that Scripture makes over and over again, is to bring about a transfer. What God has, He gives to us. …
Anabaptists in Puritan Face Paint
When was the first appearance of the strict regulative principle? And what does this tell us about certain deep affinities between certain streams of the Reformed faith and the streams of other communions? I have before charged that some of the pietists in the Reformed world are completely at odds with their own heritage. And …
Moses the Unreasonable
Our presence here at this table makes a claim on us. Because we are here, we must not become idolaters, as some of the Jews did in the wilderness. We must not eat and drink at another god’s table, and then rise up to play. The golden calf, however, was not called another god. Aaron …
God of Sabbaths
God of the Sabbath, God of our fathers, we pray to You in Jesus’ name. We have completed another week of labor, built on the foundation of Your everlasting gospel, embodied in our last Lord’s Day. We now look forward to another week, and we desire to build it upon the same foundation — the …
Auburn Avenue Hubbub (AAH) Cool Quote #5
“Now in particular I ask you to pray with me that as I baptize this child with water and receive him into the number of Christians, that God himself inwardly baptize him with his Spirit and hold him in the number of his elect.” John Oecolampadius Basel Service Book of 1526
Going to Memphis
A certain man was traveling to Memphis, and as he drove along the highway, he saw one of those big green road signs that said, “Memphis, 250 miles.” This was not unusual, but what was unusual was the cluster of cars, tents, and Winnebagos around the base of the sign. Curious, he decided to stop. …
God Gives the Increase
Growing Dominion, Part 5 The man who labors to build his house apart from the blessing of God labors in vain. The one who is under the blessing of God may succeed even though everyone else says it is a really bad idea. Although certain principles remain constant, the particular methods can flourish when God …
Justification By Saying the Right Thing About Justification
If I taste too many more delicious ironies, I think I will become a theological diabetic. The latest one is the way in which John Robbins has taken to denying justification by faith alone. Justification by faith alone is not accomplished by asserting justification by faith alone. Justification by faith alone occurs when a sinner …