“A friend of Trevor’s from the gym downtown was a cop with the reserves, and, of course, if it comes to that, why shouldn’t he have been?”
Shared Responsibility
“It follow that the congregation no less than the preacher have a responsibility towards what is taught . . . They, no less than the preacher, have a duty to see to it, so far as they can, that the message of the Bible shall alone be heard in their pulpit (for the pulpit is the pulpit of the whole Church, not merely of one member, the preacher.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 51
Trimmers
“These were people who just hated being led by trimmers and compromisers, and whose leaders always trimmed and compromised because that is what they thought the people were demanding. They had been let down time and over again by countless leaders who either drifted off into neo-evangelical liberalism like a child’s lost carnival balloon, or who blew up in the old-school conservative fashion via sexual scandals.”
Sitting Silently in Rows
“The assumption seems to be that, whereas the preacher is really doing something, the people have a passive role, like so many jugs waiting to be filled.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 48
Or One Ten Pound Plate
“Tom showed him to the door, said good night with little or no enthusiasm, and when the door was closed, sat down on the bench by the door. He felt as though he had just eaten a couple of the five-pound plates from his weight-lifting gear in the basement.”
The Preacher as First Listener
“They should consider that in the sermon God rules his Church by declaring his will . . . Their representative and leader, the preacher, has been the first to submit completely and unconditionally to the message of Holy Scripture. They can do no less when that message is passed on to them.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 49
That Kind of Presbyterian
“‘Is he a believer?’ Dawn asked. ‘Well, he is a Presbyterian. But he is the kind that believes the Bible. And as an attorney, I get the impression he is the kind of lawyer who goes home and sharpens his incisors at night.’”
As They Often Are in the Sermon as Well
“Now, it is a strange fact that, although there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books written about the preacher, the hearers have been largely neglected.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 48
A Full Crankcase
“Governor Fawgee Prater was the kind of politician who was telegenic enough, but who, if you got closer than ten yards or so, was revealed to be as unctuous and oily as they come. A full crankcase had nothing on him.”
Mood Swings
“And thus the stage was set for Maria to go through several days of dark anguish and exquisite joy, alternating back and forth like a small reciprocating two-cycle engine.”