Christianity and Politics IV: God and Politics in Proverbs
Proverbs is written by a political officer (the king) and is about much more than personal piety.
Four unique ways in which Proverbs provides wisdom for political rule: 1) the way in which good government–contrary to the liberal dream of moral neutrality–is wise government, 2) the nature of true social justice, 3) the nature of a virtuous, healthy nation and what is necessary to maintain it, and 4) the necessary moral competency of... Continue Reading
Satan Does Not Hold the Keys of Death
Because of Christ, death is not final. It is a passage from one world to the next.
We are not doomed to an ultimate conflict with no hope of resolution. The message of Scripture is one of victory—full, final, and ultimate victory. It is not our doom that is certain, but Satan’s. His head has been crushed by the heel of Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega. We have different... Continue Reading
Observing Grief
C. S. Lewis, Cancer and Grief
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a sort of invisible blanket... Continue Reading
Goodbye Local Church?
The Christian Consumer
The Bible speaks not of a marketplace but of a kingdom. We seem to have assumed and be practising a false paradigm. Is it true that the day of the ordinary local church is coming to an end? Or is the problem that the majority of Christians are running with an idea which is from... Continue Reading
If Your Pastor’s Door Could Speak
The door to a Pastor’s house is wonderful, it’s an invitation and it’s a shield.
As you next stand at that door, which are you? A friend that seeks to encourage and comfort or a person who seeks to destroy what the Lord has called a man and his family to do. A Pastor’s door is a place of leave for many, but do not forget that for those who live... Continue Reading
How to Really Encourage Your Pastor
Paul gives us an insight into the emotional life of a church pastor.
Your pastor’s job comes with great responsibility — a responsibility and authority given by the Lord for “building up and not for tearing down” (2 Cor 10:8, 13:10). And it is taxing work, especially emotionally. It can regularly make him groan. These reasons are a real factor in why many pastors burn out. But when... Continue Reading
Finding Our Way Through the Labyrinth of Providence
John Livingstone was deposed from the ministry for nonconformity in late 1631. The correspondence between these friends around this time includes the following updated and abridged letter, where Elizabeth Melville intersperses hearty exhortations with gentle encouragements.
“So I am in a labyrinth. How can I get out? Only this is my comfort, that mercy shall prevail. Our sins are finite, but His grace is infinite. Our guiltiness is great, but His goodness is greater, and exceeds. The rage and malice of our enemy is cruel, yet it is bounded, but the... Continue Reading
III. Gospel Implications
By God’s grace, sinners are gifted faith in God and repentance of sin (Eph 2:8-9).
Each person who believes is given the Spirit of God to live in them (John 7:39). By the gift of the Holy Spirit, all believers are thus empowered to live the Christian life and actively put away sin (Rom 8:13). Not only this, but because of this right standing with God, there is the hope... Continue Reading
Stephen Frontis (1792-1867): Presbyterian Pastor and Sabbath Contender
For Frontis and others of his era, the first day’s observance was an indispensable part of the serious and godly Christian life.
Given his ancestry and European upbringing, Frontis enjoyed a greater appreciation for the consequences of the loss of the Sabbath day than did most of his American-born brethren. Even so, some American-born Presbyterians occasionally reminded their countrymen of France’s abolition of the Sabbath in lieu of the Decadi (every tenth day) – nearly forty years... Continue Reading
Fools for Christ
The Dodgers have reconfirmed it is possible to be craven and sanctimonious at the same time.
Evangelicals need a Biblical theology of foolishness for our generation that will at once “shame the wise” and declare the truth and promise of the gospel. How should that look for Protestant believers in the twenty-first century? Whatever it looks like, it must embrace the foolishness of the cross to affirm that our faith does... Continue Reading
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