Sexual strangling: It’s the new vanilla
Steve McAlpine looks at a disturbing stat about sexual strangling and the even more disturbing conclusions some a drawing from it.
An open letter to the brothers I went to seminary with
So nice to hear a positive example of this: ‘From the first day that I joined the ranks of women in theological education, you treated me as an equal, as a co-labourer and co-combatant. You didn’t embrace female ordination, and neither did I. Still, you invited me into your study groups, you asked to borrow my notes after class, and you broke bread freely with me in the campus dining hall.’
On spiritual dreams
Working in a context with lots of South Asians, and leading a church that is 1/3 Farsi-speaking Iranian (former Muslim converts who are now Baptists), I co-sign this one.
Jordan Peterson & His Useful God
Dani Treweek reviews a Jordan Peterson lecture: ‘I’m aware that many Christians find aspects of Peterson’s broader work important and insightful. Perhaps they are right to do so. I am not in a position to evaluate that. But what I am in a position to evaluate is what I heard him teach in that one lecture, on that one night. And what he taught was a biblical narrative I did not recognise, a picture of what it is to be human I did not recognise, and a God I did not recognise.’
What is the covenant of redemption?
Or, the Pactum Salutis, if you’re into fancy Latin terms. But here, RC Sproul does what RC Sproul always did so well.
The secret failure of many leaders
‘You’ve given sermons or taught Sunday school or written articles in the past, and your Lord stood with you. You have made decisions for family, for your company, for your children, and God has blessed them. This time feels no different than then. So, without thinking much about it, you switch to autopilot, lean on your wisdom and strength, and grow more forgetful in prayer. Success is taken for granted, gratitude shrinks, presumption ascends.’
From the archive: In defence of preaching points
‘It has been my experience that those who shy away from points – who may well ‘bring the story to life’ or really plumb the depths of the poetry – tend to be considerably less clear about what the passage actually means. We may get a better flavour of the stylistic elements of what we have read, but I have found – almost to a sermon – they are much less clear on what it means and, more specifically, what it means to me – even if I did happen to get drawn in to a nicely presented narrative.’