In answering the question posed by the title, let me begin by saying yes and no. The contingent response depends on a number of factors. Safe from what? How safe? What tools may we use to establish that safety? Yes, of course, we should take every lawful precaution to keep the … [Read more...]
Jovial Introspection
Over the course of the last year I have been doing a major review of C.S. Lewis's work. I had been shaped by Narnia as a kid, and began reading his theological works while I was still in high school. In short I did a bunch of binge reading early on, and periodically returned to … [Read more...]
Running From Honest Confession
A man who confesses his sins is doing something like this. In prayer to God, he names the sin he has committed, and he takes care to use the same name that the Bible uses. He does this because he is repentant and has turned away from that sin, rejecting it entirely. He thanks God … [Read more...]
Effluvia
This is the outline of remarks I gave to the male students of NSA this afternoon. Here are three things I want to set out with regard to the sins of words. I am not speaking here of the broad category of sins of the tongue -- gossip, slander, quarrelsomeness, and so on. My … [Read more...]
Skewed Solidarities
This last Wednesday, I sent out the following tweet: Just so you know, husbands, angry men are terrible lovers. The day after, I sent out one for the ladies: Just so you know, wives, complaining a lot is like taking ugly pills. Both tweets got positive responses, but they … [Read more...]
Why Cigarette Smoking is Not a Sin for Others. Just a Sin for You.
Here is the general outline of a talk I gave on August 24, 2010 at Collegiate Reformed Fellowship. Reposting it again three years later for obvious reasons. My point this evening is not that smoking cigarettes is a sin everywhere and for everyone, under any conceivable … [Read more...]
Accusational Dodge Ball
A few days past, I wrote about some cautions when it came to confession of sin. If you missed it, you can read that here. I wanted to follow that general set of cautions up with a handful of "fer-instance" situations. These might illustrate better how we must remember at all … [Read more...]
Some Cautions About Confession
Anybody who has followed our teaching for any length of time knows that we believe that confession of sin is good for the soul. I learned this emphasis from my father, and find it to be preeminently biblical. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our … [Read more...]
The One Who Bled
I recently received a letter from a student who was struggling in his faith, and the crux of the struggle was how the love of God, as described in the Bible, could be reconciled with some of the choices of God, as described in the Bible. There are many examples of this problem, … [Read more...]
Forgiveness and Trust
One of the most difficult exercises in practical Christian living is learning the distinction between forgiveness and trust, as well as the distinction between forgiveness and qualification for office. Forgiveness is hard enough to do without confusing it with things that are … [Read more...]