INTRODUCTION Often we confront problems in our individual lives, or in our families, and after we have exhausted all the possibilities in our hunt for a solution, we ask others to pray for us. “Oh,” some might be tempted to think. “Has it come to that?” We must learn to begin where we are sometimes …
Cultural Trajectory
Growing Dominion, Part 9 Dominion will never be understood through worry. The natural tendency of those who are able to identify trajectories is to assume that what they currently see will go on forever and ever. Herman Melville thought that civilization would end as soon as we ran out of whale oil. After a week …
Poetic Justice/Psalm 9
In this psalm, David recounts his fight with the heathen who had invaded his nation. David writes during the course of a brief respite in the battle. He celebrates a great deliverance in the first part of the psalm (vv. 1-12), and calls for further deliverance in the remainder of the psalm (vv. 13-20). “I …
Boys and Poetry
One of the great disasters of our day (and there are many to choose from) can be found in the fact that most boys hold poetry in contempt. For various reasons, and it is a long and sordid story, a love for poetry can get you designated as some kind of a swish. This is …
The School Standard
“Apologetics in the Void” are repostings from an on-going electronic discussion and debate I had some time ago with members of our local community. The list serve is called Vision 20/20, and hence the name “visionaries.” Dear visionaries, In response to Joe’s question about earthquakes and zoning laws — his illustration is a good example …
Darwin Is Still a Cracker
“Apologetics in the Void” are repostings from an on-going electronic discussion and debate I had some time ago with members of our local community. The list serve is called Vision 20/20, and hence the name “visionaries.” Dear visionaries. Gary points out that many Christian groups have sought forgiveness for their complicity in the racism of …
When Stuck, Try Theological Innovation
How is it that we are assailed for having a high (and very Reformed) view of the sacraments, when others, like the Lutherans and the Westminster West cadre, are given a pass by the anabaptist reformed? The answer that is given to this question is that there is a basic compatibility between the covenant of …
Christ First, Wood Second, Business Third
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11) Growing Dominion, Part 7 One of the great legacies of the Reformation is the idea of calling. Prior to the Reformation it was assumed that serving God in a serious way meant going into a monastery, or some kind of spiritual equivalent. The resurgence …
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 because our worship has …
Monocovenantalism, a Great Word, or What?
One of the charges leveled against me for my Auburn Avenuing is that of monocovenantalism. But what is that, exactly? If the critics mean that I hold that there has only been one covenant throughout the history of mankind, then the charge is false. God made one covenant with mankind in Adam, and He made …