Let’s play the aggrieved game, shall we? Let’s play us a round of placing the worst possible construction on the words of someone we are in a dispute with. It might not look so good in the cold light of day, but then we might learn something. Here’s hoping. Rachel Held Evans has said the …
Cloacina, Goddess of Sewers
So here’s what happened. 50 Shades of Grey went on the NYT bestseller list. For those just joining us, 50 Shades presents a demented view of sexuality, of the women-are-idiots school of thought. Jared Wilson of The Gospel Coalition posted an excerpt from my book Fidelity that he thought helped explain why people go in …
Zach and Holly
We are all privileged to participate in this Christian wedding, but we must take care that we understand this rightly. It is not a Christian wedding simply because it is occurring in a church, and it is not a Christian wedding simply because we are using Christian formulae in the ceremony itself, and it is …
Prove It
In the Old Testament law, because of man’s hardness of heart, it was possible for a man to put away his wife for trivial reasons. When men and women become bitter, every trivial thing rises to intolerable proportions, and the thing cannot be resolved. But when a woman was put away by a man for …
Discerning Worldliness
What is the difference between these two statements?1. Do not commit adultery.2. Do not be worldly. The first statement is objective and can be measured objectively. The second cannot be. Nevertheless, both are requirements of Scripture. How are we to be in submission to the will of God when we have trouble distinguishing between His …
What a Father Transplant Means
“Begat” is an important word. In our discussions of regeneration, I have consistently linked regeneration to generation, and generation is what happens when people are begotten. The same is true of regeneration. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” …
A Class of Its Own
So when I say that regeneration entails a foundational change in our nature, what do I mean? What is our nature? What we need to remember going into such a discussion is that we are not trying veer off from biblical categories into philosophical ones, but rather wanting to preserve our right to speak as …
Into the Deep Fog Actually
“Modern evangelicals have a ravenous hunger to be hipper than thou. They have a deep and covetous hunger to be cool — and so we have bestselling authors, Grammy award winners, trademark lawyers, Designer Bibles with Study Notes for just about everybody, rock bands with guys filled with middle class white guy angst, earrings, and …
Partners in Celibacy
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #77 “But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry. Nevertheless …
Michael Horton, Gender Stereotypes, and Me
Michael Horton recently offered up a critique of something he called “muscular Christianity,” and because I was (I think) referenced in his article as being among the bad guys, I thought I should say something about it. My first point has to do with the (I think) in the previous sentence. Throughout the article, Horton …