Introduction: The presence of the Lord Jesus, alive just as He had promised He would be, transforms everything. We can see this very clearly in the fall and restoration of the apostle Peter after the resurrection. The account of Christ’s care for Peter is given to us so that we might understand more of His …
The Greater Lazarus/Palm Sunday 2019
Introduction: We are seeking to recover a Christian sense of time and history, and in some sense this means a recovery of the church year. But though we are seeking to escape a secularized calendar, we must never forget that we got this secular calendar (in part) because of a reaction away from the very …
Merry Christmas, and As You Were
I trust that God has blessed you and yours with a most merry Christmas. That said, it is time for you to go back to fellowshipping with them all, including even your cranky uncle. The normal letters feature here that runs on Tuesday will appear tomorrow, despite the fact that tomorrow is Wednesday. I know …
The Next Bethlehem
There are few things in this world more audacious than the doctrines underlying Christmas. And when we say this, we are not just talking about what God has done, in fulfillment of His great and precious promises, but we are also talking about what God is continuing to do, and what He intends to complete. …
Christmas with Both Feet on the Ground
Introduction: One of our great temptations is to project doctrinal anachronisms back into the past. When Jesus was living among us, and teaching His disciples, it is pretty easy for us to take post-resurrection realities, or post-ascension realities, or even post-Nicene realities, and project them back into the minds of the disciples. Now these were …
The Christmas Gift
Introduction: Our celebration of Christmas is all about the arrival of the one who was given to us. For unto us a Son is given (Is. 9:6). The Christ was given. God so loved the world that He gave. In Isaiah’s promise, there are two words that are repeated twice, and they emphasize the reality …
Christmas: a Basic Review
Introduction: : In our circles, we have often considered the importance of having our times and seasons defined in relation to Jesus Christ. The only alternative to this is to have them defined in reference to someone or something else, and this is obviously an unacceptable alternative to all faithful Christians. Jesus Christ really has …
Have Yourself a Merry Little Chalcedon Christmas
Introduction: King Ahaz was enough of a good guy to at least have the prophet Isaiah trying to encourage him. Ahaz had refused to join in with an anti-Assyrian alliance, and Syria (also called Aram) and Ephraim (also called Israel) had attacked Judah for not joining with them. They failed in that attack, but succeeded …
Thanksgiving 2018, Idolatry, and Deuteronomic Pie
Introduction: One of the more pleasant customs around here is to write something every Thanksgiving about how good God has been to us. But this is really not a “break” from all the culture war stuff—gratitude actually ought to be our central weapon in the culture war. Thanksgiving is not simply the name of our …
The Holy, Horror, and Halloween
I want to take the approach of yet another Halloween to address something that is increasingly related to it. A few years ago I wrote about the lawfulness of celebrating Halloween itself — at the little kid dressing up level — but here I want to develop further a thought I mentioned in passing there. …