Y2K has not always been on everyone’s lips, but it is now. For years, those who had taken the responsibility of warning others were pretty lonely people. Now that we have very little time left, we have nearly universal awareness . . . and mounting consternation. In the midst of this, many pastors are wondering …
True Humility
Men who do not comprehend their emptiness do not seek to be filled. As Thomas Watson put it, a hand clutching pebbles cannot be filled with gold. Men who do not understand their emptiness apart from God will not seek to be filled by God. And those who have been made aware of their spiritual …
Worship Is Warfare
Whenever we think about the kingdom of God, and as we pray the Lord’s prayer, asking for that kingdom to “come,” a host of theological questions cluster around. What do we mean by this? And how is it brought about? The kingdom refers to the rule and realm of Jesus Christ, which of course encompasses …
Glory and Matter
The gnostic impulse lies deep with us, close to the bone. But God, in His mercy, has placed the resurrection of Jesus Christ right at the center of our faith. This means that in order to give way fully to gnosticism, we have to abandon the faith in order to do so. And in the …
Communion Betrayed
In this fallen world, we have to anticipate what happens whenever a covenant is broken. When men and women marry, they exchange vows in public, promising to forsake all others. Why is this necessary? The answer is that we are a race of sinners, and we cannot assume that people will do what they say …
Anselm and Creedal Advance
As surprising as it may seem to some, the church grows and matures in her understanding over time. In other words, some battles are actually won, and certain doctrines are really established, and they stay established. Some of this can be seen in the pages of the New Testament, and other examples are found at …
Refined Seven Fold
In the contemporary debate on the authority of Scripture, the only real concern I have with words like inerrant or infallible is that they are not strong enough. The doctrine of sola Scriptura has two components. The first is that Scripture is the only infallible authority we have. The second is that Scripture is the …
Fear of Feasting
Augustine exhorted us somewhere to love God and do as we please. This makes us nervous, and more than a little bit jumpy. Of course the protection resides in the first clause – loving God affects what will please us. Psalm 37:4 says that if we delight in the Lord He will give us the …
Spurgeon the Great
We live in a time when preachers are told they must not really be preachers, but rather entertainers, facilitators, masters of ceremonies, or whatever the next hot-selling guru book for preachers will say they must be instead of preachers. This is all done in the name of making the gospel relevant and palatable to the …
Adultery
We may all agree that adultery is not a good thing, but our opinions here sometimes appear to be a mud fence we have built to withstand an incoming tsunami. Something more, we feel, may be necessary. In the modern church, a pastor can commit adultery, and get caught. It is at least possible that, …