I want to begin by praising N.T. Wright, but I want to do so in order to critique the Church of England, along with Dr. Wright’s apparent approach to her. In Jesus and the Victory of God, Wright has a wonderful section where he shows that forgiveness of sins needs to be understood in a …
Narnian Grace
One of the important lessons we learn in Narnia is not just that Aslan is like Christ (and that we are like the people in Narnia who serve and worship him). We also learn the nature of the relationship between Aslan and his servants. The best way to describe this relationship is that of grace. …
Not Being Graded
We have assembled here yet again. We do so aware of our sinfulness, and our unworthiness, and this is something we have already confessed. But at the same time, we are commanded in Scripture to walk in a manner that is worthy of the name we have received. And you, as a particular congregation, need …
A Prayer of Imprecation
One of the easiest things in the world to misunderstand (and therefore to misrepresent) is the biblical pattern of imprecatory prayer. It is very easy to interpret the practice as some kind of primitive voodoo doll custom, practiced only by the petty and vindictive. But for those who are open to a very fine treatment …
Old Flat Top, Grooving Up Slowly
I have just a few random comments, public-service-announcement-wise. I put them under this category because it does relate to a couple of them, but taking one thing with another, this is just a mishmash. Besides, I need something random to go with the title. 1. Happy Thanksgiving. Take great care to eat too much, but …
Nobility in Narnia
What does it mean to be noble? What is false nobility? And what does it mean to fail in nobility? These are all questions that will be answered if you read the Narnia stories they way they really ought to be read. Like Shasta in The Horse and His Boy, we too often have a …
Westminster XXIV: Of Marriage and Divorce
1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5–6; Prov. 2:17). One man, one woman, one time. Polygamy is excluded because it …
A Lifetime of Rehearsal
This wedding today is a small foretaste of the great consummation of all things, which will occur at the wedding supper of the Lord Jesus with His bride, the Christian Church. Human history began with a wedding in a Garden, and it will come to its ultimate fulfillment in a great wedding at the center …
Westminster Nineteen: Of the Law of God
1. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which He bound him and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it (Gen. 1:26–27; 2:17; Rom. …
Except What It Means
“Young people today are desperately trying to vandalize the image of God that they carry about, despite themselves, in their bodies. God gave long hair to women as a glory and a covering — showing that the Lord is near — and yet bewildered, unprotected, and lost women now cut their hair with hedge clippers …