Worship Founded Upon Meekness
We either have the God of the Bible as our Lord, or we have the man-made creation as our idol.
The Second Commandment is also largely concerned with comforting us with the news that we need not be ignorant either of how or who to bring praise with and to in response to the grace given in love. The same God who has provided a plan of redemption has presented in His perfect Scriptures a... Continue Reading
Disguising Ungodliness as Righteous Anger
When righteous anger slips into something unrighteous, it is always because I have smuggled myself onto the throne.
Much more of the time, imitation of God slides, ever so subtly, into replacement of God. We do that thing that we do. We take his place, and soon it is our honor that we are concerned about, our law that is being breached, and our own needs that are stirring us to passionate rage.... Continue Reading
Rescuing Reverence – 6 – Submissiveness
The third component of the reverent, fearful love of God is submissiveness.
Submission lives in hope: hope that by submitting, we will find more goodness and reward and joy than had we pursued our own ends selfishly. As we yield to his authority, giving our loving attention, hoping in his promises and power, it must culminate in the act of seeking to please God in obedient choices. By... Continue Reading
A Second Fundamentalism and the Butterfly of American Christianity
For decades, we have imagined American spirituality in a simplistic, linear way, but the events of recent years have proven that framing to be outmoded and inadequate.
Christianity has been through many conflicts throughout the centuries, some of which have been far more challenging and destructive than the current debates about justice. Being in the midst of a conflict is very hard, but God has always brought his church through those conflicts. And reorienting ourselves to the more complex world we live... Continue Reading
Obedient From All Eternity (2): 1 Corinthians 15:20–28
The Son is true God just as the Father is true God.
The notion of the Son as eternally equal to the Father in divinity, authority, and glory makes the most sense out of our Christian lives: we worship Christ as equal to the Father, all persons of the Trinity are active in our lives, and Christ came to save his people voluntarily. Christian, please accept nothing... Continue Reading
Will I Trust God?
Simple Prayer in a Desperate Moment
When you believe God, he counts it to you as righteousness, as full acceptance from God himself. And when you believe God, it leads to the Isaac-laughter of inexpressible joy as you at last see God do for you what he has promised. And when you believe God, you will share inexpressible joy with a... Continue Reading
Songbirds Fly at Night
The online age has encouraged an intense form of individualism. With it has come the loss of serendipitous learning and an ever-diminishing appreciation of the world.
As image bearers, we were designed to behold wonderous things. Indeed, a continual perception of glory is necessary if we are to fulfill our role faithfully. To this end we must give our attention. According to this privilege, we must order our steps. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes. To be a vice-regent, we... Continue Reading
Where Have All the Great Men Gone? (Not to Harvard)
How do we encourage the next generation toward greatness rather than simply promoting compromise, concession, and conformity as Harvard is doing?
Faith in God, admiration of virtue, respect for the institutions of marriage and family, and love for learning and discerning truth…were once commonplace convictions in Western civilization; now they are rarer than a white tiger. Nevertheless, our need for them has never been greater, and the men and women who are taught to cling to... Continue Reading
The Greatest Prooftext for the Doctrine of Eternal Generation?
The church confesses, on the basis of Holy Scripture: He is “begotten, not made.”
The reason Jesus acts the way he does, the reason Jesus is worthyof the worship he receives, is that Jesus’ origin is what it is: he is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, the heavenly Son of the heavenly Father, the only-begotten Son who is from above, not from below, whose filiation is not of this world. ... Continue Reading
Our Free Salvation Sets Us Free to Love
With our requirements for salvation removed by the cross, we can now selflessly obey God’s command to love others.
Mormons and JWs are typically kind, pleasant, and respectful, but their evangelism is driven by their need to fulfill specific requirements. They may love those they’re talking with, but their goal in evangelizing is to save themselves. Christianity is different. It happens at the most inconvenient time. Dinner’s on the table, or I’m putting my... Continue Reading
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