"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...]

"For now it should suffice to say that modern evangelicalism (not historic evangelicalism) is represented by what one president called the axis of treacle -- Christianity Today, the Christian Booksellers Association, Wheaton College and its environs, Colorado Springs and its … [Read more...]

"When I say this sort of thing -- that the North had drifted into theologically liberal goo thought and the South was orthodox and Christian -- I know I am painting with a broad brush. I know it is a generalization. Even today, if I were to refer to the 'Bible belt,' I would not … [Read more...]

"Perhaps we should just limit this question to children in the wombs of black women today. If you were a black fetus in Atlanta, Georgia, what were you odds of ever seeing the light of day in 1858? What are your odds in 2005? A lot of kids died back then, but not because the vile … [Read more...]