We Know what kind of Society we are: We’re just Haggling over the Price
‘You’ve heard the crass tale (attributed to many, but sourced to none) of the businessman who propositions a woman for a million dollars. She agrees. He then propositions her again but drops the fee to one hundred dollars. “Sir, what kind of woman do you think I am?” she retorts. We’ve already established what kind of woman you are,” he responds, “Now we’re just haggling over the price”. That’s the cultural moment we are living in when it comes to ethics around the body. We’ve established what kind of society we are. Now we’re just haggling over the price.’
Some Clarification on the Image of God in Man
This is a helpful reflection on the doctrine of the image of God. What does it actually mean that we are made in God’s image?
Six Traits of a Forgettable Sermon
John Piper addresses this one: ‘it is possible to be rigorously faithful to the wording, the logic, the purpose of the biblical text and be engaging and not too technical. It is possible. If somebody told me, “Piper, your messages are too technical and they’re not engaging,” I would not blow it off. I would take that criticism seriously. I would make every effort to be both: engaging and rigorously devoted to the wording of the text.’
The Lord Knows The Plans He Has For You, But They’re Not The Plans He Told Jeremiah
Not only is this verse specific to the people of Israel in Jeremiah’s day, but the plan he had for their good was also not what we might consider the ‘good’ we might be hoping for. This one explains the context of this oft-quoted verse.
A Notice about Notices
This one makes a plea to make notices great again, and then goes on to talk at length about how we might do just that.
Five Common Misunderstandings About Calvinism
‘In coming to understand these doctrines that are now so precious to me, I realize there were fortresses built in my mind to defend against the idea of God being sovereign in the matter of salvation. Such was my total depravity! These fortresses were not made of stone and brick but of man-made ideas, concepts I believed Scripture taught with clarity. They did not come down easily. In fact, I believe it is a work of divine grace not only to regenerate His people, but also to open the hearts and minds of His own people to the truth of His sovereignty in election. There are many false ideas about Calvinism. Here are five that are very common.’
From the archive: It’s not always legitimate to come out of your bedroom
‘Just as with my daughter, the Lord wants us to obey the spirit of his commands, not just the letter. The Lord is, after all, more concerned with the heart. There are times when it is legitimate for my daughter to leave her room, but there is a broader principle. We want her to sleep and to obey us; whilst there are grounds for her to set that aside at times, more often than not that is what she is to do. The leaving the room isn’t the problem so much as why she is leaving her room. In the same way, the Lord recognises times when broad principles might need to be set aside because for other legitimate reasons of faithfulness. But more often than not, that is not the deal. The question he is concerned about is less what we ended up doing and more why we ended up doing it.’