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 …
Small But Significant
Solomon tells us that there are four creatures that are apparently insignificant, but yet are extraordinarily wise. This is one of God favorite devices in telling His stories. Those four creatures are the ant, the rock badger, the locust, and the lizard (Prov. 30:24ff). Despite their smallness, they provide food and shelter for themselves, showing …
More Details on the Grace Agenda
I do hope you have noticed the theme and date of our coming Grace Agenda conference. You haven’t? Well, let me draw your attention to it now. The details are filling out nicely. This conference will be happening September 14-15 in Moscow, up in the chimney of Idaho. The theme of the Grace Agenda conference …