Act like men
May 19, 2013 § 1 Comment
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
What is a man? For millennia humans have sought to answer that question, drawing both from what seems obvious to them from nature because of the physical make-up of males versus females as well as from the influences of individual cultures, philosophy and religion.
The image of masculinity in America has almost always been one of the rugged individual, though modern feminism has sought (sometimes, I fear, literally) to emasculate that image. A few years ago a funny phenomenon developed that I think says a lot about the American view of masculinity: Chuck Norris jokes.
- Some people can juggle chainsaws; Chuck Norris can juggle people juggling chainsaws.
- Fear of spiders is called arachnophobia; fear of tight spaces is called claustrophobia; fear of Chuck Norris is called “Logic.”
- Chuck Norris has a grizzly bear carpet in his room. The bear isn’t dead; it is just afraid to move.
- Ghosts sit around the campfire and tell Chuck Norris stories. « Read the rest of this entry »
Gospel defeat? Never.
April 24, 2013 § 2 Comments
On April 8 Margaret Thatcher, the first woman Prime Minister of England and one of the most influential and polarizing figures not merely of British history but of the 20th century, died. She was called the Iron Lady by her detractors for what they viewed as her steely style and hard, uncompromising views. Many credit her with saving England, bringing it from the brink of an economic ruin nurtured by years of liberal and socialist-leaning governing.
There were those who hated her so much that, on the day of her funeral, some lined the street with their backs turned as her funeral procession came by; others held wild, public celebrations; a childish rendition of “Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead” topped the English pop charts. « Read the rest of this entry »
Powerful speakers or faithful preachers?
February 19, 2013 § 2 Comments
There seems to be no end of seminars, tape series or books that are guaranteed to make me a better preacher. I regularly receive emails with enticing subject titles like “Preach sermons that will move your people!” “Preach with power” and “Is your preaching changing lives?”
No preacher wants to believe that his sermons are without power, and no congregation desires a preacher who does not trust that God will use his preaching in powerful ways. People have a high expectation of their pastors when it comes to preaching, and rightly so. They want to “show him off” when friends or family visit, they want him to make the Bible “come alive” when they bring unchurched friends; and, in between, they want him to hit “home runs” every week. In short, they want him to be a dynamic, powerful speaker who makes sitting for half an hour worth it. « Read the rest of this entry »
Clear as mud?
February 18, 2013 § Leave a comment
I apologize for the confusion that resulted from my last post. I did not make clear that, once you went to the brief post at Reformation21 by Carl Trueman, you were to click the link to the Reformed Baptist Fellowship site that features the post by Richard Barcellos. Here is that link!
Protestants and Lent
February 16, 2013 § 2 Comments
A few important points are necessary to make at the outset of this post.
First. I do not agree that it is never appropriate to question or criticize a person’s expression of devotion to God. Biblically speaking, sometimes critique is necessary because one’s devotion may be misplaced or in error, as Paul did with the unbelieving Athenians (Acts 17:23). Other times it is necessary because of ignorance, as Priscilla and Aquila did with Apollos (Acts 18:24-26) or as Paul did with the believers he met in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-6). In each case critique is matter of truth, love and, ultimately, honor to the Lord. « Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus, Personal Lord and Savior
February 15, 2013 § 3 Comments
I have always been bothered by many of my Reformed and Covenantal peers’ contempt for the term “receiving Jesus as personal Lord and Savior.” I am well aware that many who use this phrase have absolutely no ecclesiology to speak of and have so privatized their faith that, in their minds, there is no such thing as a “capital C” Church. What all too often emerges in this criticism, however, is a reactionary, man-made doctrine of corporate salvation that is, in my reading of Scripture, far more dangerous than the individualism that typifies most of those who are broadly evangelical. It is yet another willingly opened chute that slides back to the very theological darkness upon which the Reformation shone the light of truth.
A testimony of life
February 14, 2013 § 8 Comments
Every January, many evangelical churches use the “anniversary” of the tragic 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade to celebrate the sanctity of human life. At least one Sunday that month is given to prayer, a special message and testimonies that touch on this critical moral issue. Unfortunately, in most of these churches, when January ends, so does the pro-life emphasis until the next year. « Read the rest of this entry »
The end of the world
December 21, 2012 § 4 Comments
Well, we made it! If you’re reading this then we are still here! Unless, of course, utter destruction awaits when the last time zone enters the 21st of December. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that the Mayans built global time zones into their cosmology. « Read the rest of this entry »
“…and his name shall be called…Prince of Peace.”
December 19, 2012 § 1 Comment
Of all the names in Isaiah 9:6 of the Son given to God people, perhaps none resonates within us so deeply as “Prince of Peace”—particularly in times such as ours.
We are surrounded—no, immersed—in conflict. « Read the rest of this entry »
“… and his name shall be called…Everlasting Father…”
December 17, 2012 § 4 Comments
“And they lived happily ever after.”
It’s amazing. No matter how cynical we become as a culture, no matter how jaded, we still flock to movies with happy endings. Some would call it wishful thinking, a simple and childish form of escapism that the more realistic among us (known by the rest as “pessimists”) know better than to embrace.
The Bible has another answer: “[God]…has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). « Read the rest of this entry »
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