Whenever we celebrate a wedding, it is right and proper for us to reflect on the first wedding. Jesus teaches us that we are supposed to understand what we are doing with regard to marriage by reflecting on how it was “from the beginning.” And so this is what we do. Given the nature of …
Red State Incarnationalist
There are a number of reasons why Christians are reluctant to bring their ideas down out of the realm of ethereal abstractions. One of those reasons is that to do so requires us to take responsibiltiy. Another reason is that taking responsibility brings us into conflict. In short, we can’t come down from the heights …
Joy and Melancholy
INTRODUCTION:What are we to make of a disruption of joy that does not appear to proceed from unconfessed sin, and which also appears unrelated to external afflictions? What are we to make of that broad category of minor depression, major depression, other forms of mental illness, the blues, or simply other forms of unhappiness? They …
A Tall Tree and a Short Rope
[Trigger warning: strident feminism pretending not to be] Sarah Moon writes here about complementarianism’s “ugly relationship with rape.” She poses two questions of us bad people, and they are as follows — first, how do we define rape? And secondly, what do we propose to do about it? Okay. I would define rape as having …
Joy and Affliction
INTRODUCTION:We have seen that one cause of disrupted joy is the fact of unrepented and unconfessed sin. The second cause, the one we will consider today, is the relationship of joy and affliction. And the third, covered next week, will be the relationship of joy and melancholy, joy when you have a case of the …
The Expulsive Power of a New Affection
I need to confess that I have kind of a crock pot brain. I throw things in there and hope that applied heat for an extended period of time will result in an acceptable stew. Occasionally something will just float to the surface and surprise me, something that happened to me just last week. I …
Obey Your Confession
Note: I have a book in process which consists of my notes on the Westminster Confession. What follows, Lord willing, will be part of the introduction to that book. The Westminster is basically the systematics course for Greyfriars Hall. In case you were curious. Some of you have had occasion to look at the Constitution …
Get Him Winding Some Bandages
In this article here, Carl Trueman writes as a complementarian, but one who is wondering what the big deal is. Here is the money quote near the end: “It is thus not complementarianism in itself to which I object; I am simply not sure why it is such a big issue in organisations whose stated …
Homo Republicanus
I sometimes think that secularists, including the conservative ones, have never heard of Venn diagrams. The concept of overlapping spheres of thought continues to elude them. The idea of layered hierarchies is floating above their heads, just out of reach. If you point out the incoherence of secularism (or say that you do such a …
Let God Arise
INTRODUCTION:This psalm is possibly a psalm to accompany the transport of the ark of the covenant to its new home on Mt. Zion. In the song it reenacts the great victories of God, and appropriately became the battle hymn of the Covenanters and the Huguenots. The reach of this psalm is high, although some of …