Introduction: Returning to the book of Nehemiah, we find the city walls built, but the city within is still not populated, and is still not prosperous. Building a city involves more than building the infrastructure, and repentance brings gladness together with the sorrow. The Text: Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, …
The Mystery of Scandal
The word scandal is unfortunately common in Christian circles, but much of the modern use is not in line with the scriptural use. Our use refers to something important, but we sometimes think that we have handled the biblical doctrine of scandal (and it is a central doctrine) simply because we have dealt with our …
The Love of Death
“So relativism, in the realm of higher, secular education, has come to the end of its tether. And like a stupid but persistent dog, still alive but discouraged, the relativists keep yanking, trying to get free of the constraints imposed on them through God’s created order. Our secularist college and university system has a death …
Our Lady of Westminster
Marian obedience, the jewelry of God, has adorned the gracious necks of many women, hearts rejoicing in God their Savior. Fiat mihi. Margaret Wilson, tied to a stake, struggled and drowned, filled with water, yet full of grace.Marie Durant—behold this handmaiden of the Lord— spent 38 years in a forsaken tower by the sea, rather than …
Ezra Nehemiah 15
Introduction: This passage from Nehemiah is a wonderful example of how the work of the kingdom of God goes forward. Dealing the the nature of the work is one thing, and dealing with those who are hostile to the idea of that work is another, and it is often necessary to have a sword in …
Ezra Nehemiah 14
Introduction: We know that all Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for teaching and correcting. This does not mean that we gravitate to Nehemiah 3 as naturally as we do with Psalm 23 or 1 Corinthians 13, but it does mean something. The Text: Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the …
Where the Problem Started
“The declension of culture in America is comparable to well-meaning but naive parents who raise a child without discipline and without instilling self-control and who are then shocked at the extent of the rebellion apparent when that child gets away from home. The extent of our current rebellion can be seen in our cultural parade …
Ezra Nehemiah 11
Introduction: Repentance may be felt (and usually is felt) at a deep emotional level. But this does not remove the need to be careful and deliberate in how things are set right. The Text: Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there …
Ezra Nehemiah 10
Introduction: Times of reformation are not times when sin goes away, when no recurring temptations present themselves. Rather, history reveals periods of reformation as those times when the sin was dealt with as it should have been, often at great cost. Reformation is not like a figure skater gliding smoothly across the ice; it is …
Odd Bedfellows
After I posted DeeplyGrieved.com (a few posts down), my wife mentioned to me another important “indicator that something is screwy” that I had missed. Once someone has enlisted in what I call “the fellowship of the grievance” (FOG) all other differences with other members of that fellowship fade into the background. Adversaries become cobelligerents, and …