“The principle here is that you cannot export what you do not have, and, if you try, you will only wind up exporting what you do have. Whenever Pharisees go on a mission, the result is Pharisaism overseas. When scriptural ignorance goes on a crusade, the result is crusading ignorance. The applications to our situation …
And Burn All Their Houses
“If someone says that no ethical standards are fixed, and so we ought not to apply our standards to anybody else, we now know what to ask. What does the good gentleman mean, “we ought not”? If ethical standards are not fixed, then the conclusion could just as easily be that we ought to apply …
Calvinism and Evangelism
“The principal problem here is not the fact that evangelicals adopted Calvinism and consequently lost their zeal for evangelism, but rather that postmillennial Calvinists abandoned their postmillennialism and consequently lost their conviction that the gospel would go forth into the world, conquering and to conquer” (Mother Kirk, p. 249).
What God Does Not Anoint
“There may be some commotion as a result, but cowardice in the pulpit has never been anointed by God” (Mother Kirk, p. 237).
The Devil’s Stragglers
“For example, the biblical pattern of evangelism was not at all like our modern method of picking off the devil’s stragglers, but rather a pattern of bringing the good news to household after household” (Mother Kirk, p. 236).
Men at Church
“Too often the picture of men at church is that of the hapless drone, maneuvered through the doors by a pious wife. He is not exactly spiritual, but he is docile, and that is reckoned to be close enough” (Mother Kirk, p. 236).
Guilt or Gratitude?
“So the last principle is to have richness of wealth be matched by a richness of good works. We are not to give to others because we have been infected with wealth, and we, the guilty, want to pass on the cooties. We are to give from a sense of enjoyment and gratitude. A man …
Socialism Preys On the Guilty
“Now it is quite true that a wealthy man can be saved — look at Abraham — but it is equally true that hte Bible is filled with stern warnings about the seductions of wealth. Modern Americans are among the wealthiest people ever to have lived. So sure, when we consider the warnings of Scripture, …
Automatic Economies
“Cotton Mather once commented that the faithfulness of the people begat prosperity, but the daughter devoured the mother. In some ways this irony is a perpetual one. When a man comes to Christ, and begins to obey Him, this means working with his hands and living [a] quiet life in all diligence. One of the …
Putting the Fun Into Fundamentalism
“What is the tithe for? As the church receives the gifts from members, the elders should keep in mind the three basic functions of the tithe . . . support ministers of the gospel, the relief of the poor, and celebration before the Lord. We have already seen Paul’s requirement of the first category. Christian …