Christian Liberty
‘People believe that the only way to combat the ever-increasing tide of secularism is to build high doctrinal sea walls to preserve the church from the flood of falsehood. They believe that if everyone toes the same doctrinal that uniformity of belief and conviction will preserve the church from compromise, decline, and devolution. The problem is that people envision doctrinal uniformity in areas about which the Bible says little to nothing: politics (think tax rates or universal healthcare), courtship (how to meet and marry your mate), or education (home schooling is the only way), for example.’
I’m Not a Sabbatarian, But That Doesn’t Mean…
This one comes form a non-sabbatarian position but wants to make clear just what that does and does not mean on his understanding.
Is it Satan or God?
‘As the preacher moved toward application, he asked his listeners to think of a difficult work associate. Then he commented, “I grant that maybe your coworker is just being a jerk. But maybe Satan is using that person to get at you. But even if Satan is behind your coworker’s actions, the Bible affirms that God will still use this difficult situation for your good.” Is this right? Could it be Satan and God at the same time?’
The Hospitable God
‘Psalm 23:5 says that God prepares a table for David in the presence of his enemies. Phillip Keller says that the idea of the shepherd with his sheep continues through the psalm right to the end. He claims that the “table” in verse 5 is referring to the high country, the table-lands. The “table” is the summer range for the sheep. The problem is that the Hebrew word for table never refers to an area in the high country for sheep to graze. In fact, the word literally refers to an animal skin that you’d spread on the ground to sit on and eat. Later it came to mean a low piece of furniture usually made out of wood on which you would place your food. Sometimes a table is just a table.’
Even Their Poets Are Preachers
‘I’ve continued to chew on how most missionaries here think that preaching, monologues by leaders, and skillful, authoritative oratory are foreign, Western things. As I’ve written before, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our local culture has great respect for and takes great pleasure in skillful public oratory of all kinds. Yet this great disconnect persists, somehow, and the majority of missionaries remain convinced that informal group discussions are the thing that is truly local and contextual, and preaching and an old-fashioned and ineffective Western form.’
Breaking Down Jesus’s Farewell Discourse
‘The nineteenth century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle once approvingly quoted an old divine who said, writing of Jesus’s upper room discourse (John 13–16) followed by his high priestly prayer (John 17), that “the best and fullest sermon ever preached was followed by the best of prayers.” That’s high praise, and many others have agreed. For 2,000 years, Jesus’s words to his followers and to his Father have strengthened and encouraged Christians. It’s worth looking more closely at this great sermon—one of the most famous and unforgettable sermons Jesus ever preached. Each of the discourses of Jesus recorded in the New Testament Gospels is powerful and precious. But there’s none quite like this one. Four stand-out features of Jesus’s farewell discourse make it distinct from all the others.’
From the archive: Points of agreement and disagreement on baptism
‘Yesterday, Ian Paul published an interview with Stephen Kuhrt regarding his revised version of his dad’s book, Believing in Baptism. You can read the interview here. Ian, somewhat impishly, tagged me in it on Facebook… Obviously, there were some significant things I disagreed with. But there were some points of agreement too. So, I thought it might be worth landing in a blog post on those points…’