"But one edifying thought experiment (there are many such) consists of William Tyndale paying a tumultuous visit to Tyndale House, publishers of the inane Left Behind series. One pictures broken windows, crying secretaries, sirens, a major scene, an arrest, and a board meeting … [Read more...]

"They had two basic problems here. First, they had no sense of proportion. They would pay Judas money to betray the Messiah, but then when Judas returned the money, they had profound scruples about which account they put it in! We just paid this guy to betray Israel's hope and … [Read more...]

"And the next taunt (for that is what these are) goes right to the heart of modern evangelicalism, in which evangelistic zeal excuses just about anything. But, the Lord points out, you can only export what you are manufacturing. If you have a stupid religion, then evangelistic … [Read more...]

"In the old days, this trick had to be accomplished by means of respectful titles like the 'Rev.' But nowadays, in these egalitarian times, the attitude of spiritual conceit has had to be a little more creative, and a pastor shows his prowess in humility by asking people to call … [Read more...]

"In other words, I always believe that I am right. This is not the same thing as believing that I am always right. I know that I have often been wrong. Nevertheless, I, along with everyone else in the world, always believe (at the time the view is maintained) that I am right. No … [Read more...]

"The apostle Paul says, 'For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake' (2 Cor. 4:5). In the biblical pattern, arrogance preaches self while humility preaches Christ. In the modern world, we see how the reality of our … [Read more...]

"We see the same thing in the conflict between biblical and modern theories of preaching. The biblical preacher is a herald, a steward. He has been entrusted to declare something that would have been true if he had never been born. He is to preach it with a strong view of his own … [Read more...]

"Instead of seeking to learn our paradigms of behavior from the Scriptures, we tend to bring our assumptions, learned elsewhere and from others, and view the Scriptures through those assumptions. This is not a superficial problem; it goes down to the bone. The prophets, the … [Read more...]

"And this is because certain non-Christian assumptions have come to dominate how we read the Bible. When Jesus looked on the rich, young ruler and loved him, it is very easy for us to say that we should be loving as He was. When preachers make such applications, no one thinks … [Read more...]

"The Juvenalian approach can be harsh or buoyant. When Jesus describes His adversaries as vipers, the tone is a straightforward denunciation. But if someone were to describe a bureaucrat as one asleep at his desk so long that one side of his head was flat, this would be … [Read more...]