Theology That Bites Back
Introduction: So imagine for yourself the sweetest little boy in the church, one whose mind turns naturally to edifying themes—the kind of meditative theme inspired by reflections on a porcelain figurine of the infant Samuel at prayer. Suppose further that this boy has plump cheeks, with kind of a rosy tint or glow, and those …
John Calvin famously said that the human heart is a factory of idols. What this means is that there is a yearning, a lust, to place some object, any object, in the position that only God Himself should occupy. “Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for …
Introduction: As part of our emphasis on practical Christian living, we have emphasized the importance of confession of sin for many years. We have taught (and continue to teach) that confession is nothing less than full honesty before God, and that such honesty is always to be ongoing and immediate. But something else we do …
Robin Phillips has written an article in which he wants to set an “agenda for fresh dialogue” on the subject of covenant renewal worship. Okay. I’m in. But I don’t want to answer Robin point by point — rather I would like to make a series of background observations that might help us to determine …
Tim Bayly is fond of saying that sexuality is the battleground issue of our era, and he is of course quite right. But the way this is unfolding should show us this is just another way of saying that everything is the battleground of our era — this is a time of worlds in collision. …
I believe that God is God, and that we are not. I believe that Jesus is our Savior, and that we are not. I believe that the Holy Spirit is our wisdom, and that we are not. I believe that Jesus died under the wrath of God for our sin, and that He was raised …
I have written before on the ideal relationship of church and kingdom, comparing it to the church at the center of town, and life in the kingdom fanning out into the parish from that center. Word and sacrament are at the center, and they shape and form the lives of believers outside the sanctuary, but …
I am currently working my way through a fascinating book about Reformation-era music called Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism, written by Joseph Herl. It is a tightly-packed scholarly tome, but would be a great read for any pastor interested in musical reformation — as every pastor ought to be. Church music can be divided into …
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that an awful lot of theological assessment is made on the basis of who you are standing next to when you say something. This creates problems if you have ecumenical impulses, because you might be standing next to entirely different types of people at …
People tend to love liturgical worship for different reasons. Some love the pageantry and patterns, while others love what it can do. Some are geometry buffs, while the others are fighters. Some are aesthetes, while the others are warriors. So in what I am about to say, let me say that I am not against …
