Once there was a group of small boys who were very close friends. There were five of them, and they were inseparable. They went to school together, they played after school together, they spent countless hours in the summers together, and they often spent the night in tents in … [Read more...]
Super Submission
The apostle Paul said that we were to receive one another, but not into debates over disputable things. In his day the debatable things had to do with the ceremonial foods of Judaism, and so we think we have learned his wisdom simply because the church now debates different … [Read more...]
Psalms and Culture War
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 … [Read more...]
Vintage
Incarnate blend, sanded like ancient oak, Light, but never pale, Her fruit is weight and glory. A taste of textured chocolate. All mingled years In a cask bestowed, She is my tawny port. … [Read more...]
Vintage II
Blended, rich, sanded like ancient oak, Light, but never pale. Her fruit is weight and glory; textured chocolate. All mingled years In a cask bestowed, She is my tawny port. … [Read more...]
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 the … [Read more...]
The Unaware Billionaire
One day, a certain man became a Christian. He had been thinking about it for months, and a next door neighbor had explained the faith in a compelling way. This man and his wife both accepted the Lord, and were baptized the following Sunday. The next day, Monday morning, before … [Read more...]
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. What we … [Read more...]
Flesh is Grass
At Your Word, O God, the mountains smoke, And at Your Word, the oceans boil in their basins. You speak, and all the earth is silent. You speak, and regiments of tornadoes leap into battle. Quietly, You cause the grasses of the field to bend back and forth on the way to … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]