“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 28 Part of cultural maturity is the art of learning to delight in the fact that other people delight in things that leave you cold. Of course, we must exclude from this anything that God flatly prohibits, but we must …
Adultery
We must always remember that sin muddles. Even though we live in a sex-crazed society, it does not follow from this that we understand sex, or sexual morality. The “openness” advocated by so many actually blurs the understanding. In such a situation, God’s law illumines; disobedience results not only in sexual immorality, but also sexual …
Birds of a Feather
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 27 The dividing line between right and wrong is a thick, black one. If we were supposed to stay away from factory-processed foods, music with a back beat, bee pollen, classrooms with desks, home education, wine, beer, or spirits, then …
You Shall Not Commit Murder
It would be easy for Christians to assume that there is not much to say with regard to this commandment — God says not to murder people. But as is true with so many other things, we are most prone to error in the things we think we know. The Word of God says that …
Trinitarian Snobs
GRACE & PEACE “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 26 As we consider the task of living full, Trinitarian lives we have to avoid the temptation of becoming what might be called narrow Trinitarian snobs. By “Trinitarian” here I mean the art and discipline (guided by …
Separating Friends
We learn from James that the tongue is a destructive force in the lives of men. We learn from Proverbs all the different ways in which this destruction comes. For one example, “A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends” (Prov. 16:28). Whenever a crop of strife arises, we know from the …
Honoring Parents
Although the message of the Fifth Commandment is clearly a message which is important for children to hear and heed, it is not a message just for children. Everyone who reads this has parents, and everyone who hears has a duty to honor them in the way the Bible describes. “Honor your father and your …
Expensive Bread
GRACE & PEACE “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 25 Those who are wealthy are in a position to afford various luxuries. They are also vulnerable to the temptation to not notice that they have access to these luxuries. As we have noted already, we are …
The Rudder of All Wisdom
James tells us that the one who can control his tongue can control anything (Jas. 3:2). He says in the same verse that we all offend in many ways. The clear implication is that none of us have full control of our speech-for if we did, we would not be offending in “many things” the …
An Unnecessary Sabbath?
In our previous discussion, we noted that the fourth commandment has been controversial for Christians over the years. These controversies have not been manufactured out of whole cloth; an exegetical basis exists for the questions which arise around observance of the fourth commandment. There are two basic assumptions we must decide between first. One very …