Church discipline isn’t just the final stage we often think of—removing from membership, fellowship, and so on. I went under church discipline in the booth of The Nook Cafe. It didn’t go all the way to the end because my brothers helped me. Our Lord loved me. Every Christian is under church discipline. We don’t always... Continue Reading

Paul’s authenticity was tempered by discernment. Paul knew that while everything may be permissible, not everything is profitable. In an age of platforming and personal brand building, of social media profiles and image consultants, this should give us great pause. Paul held back truth, he didn’t supply the fullest picture of his credibility. Why? “so... Continue Reading

Gratitude doesn’t come from realizing we’ve got it better than some other poor chap. Gratitude comes from realizing that our Father delights to give to us His kingdom. And when we come to properly value the kingdom then we see the world as Asaph finally saw it. Steak is great, but if steak is all... Continue Reading

Many Christians find themselves eager to express a desire to do better than we have in the past in our treatment of minority believers, we rush unthinking toward opportunities to show our disgust at any accusation of racism in our ranks. We think we must not only have an opinion, we must broadcast it as... Continue Reading

Darkness comes in different degrees. Though much of it can feel intensely painful and unbearable at the moment, some passes and some stays with us. The loss of a pet usually fades, the loss of a child or spouse does not. It is the persistent or enduring darkness that poses the most noticeable threat to our souls.... Continue Reading

As we are in the divine purpose united to Christ in his death, God has ‘quickened us together with Christ’ (Eph 2:5). And looked at from the point of view of the Holy Spirit, regeneration comes about as a result of his activity in the soul. A man is born again ‘of the Spirit’.   ‘Regeneration’... Continue Reading

Consider: on any political or theological question, there are generally a vast range of possible positions that could coherently be taken, which might be mapped on a relatively smooth spectrum from “most liberal” to “most conservative.” But most of us eschew the complexity of this mapping, with all the ifs, ands, and buts that it... Continue Reading

In his treatise, Religious Affections, Edwards argues, against Chauncy, that true religion consists not merely of a “notional” understanding and cognitive acquiescence to truth, but of a “sense of the heart” in which lively and vigorous affections of love and delight and joy and peace and yearning are in evidence. Such affections, said Edwards, may be... Continue Reading

I listened to a fascinating book this year by Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of the Humanities in the Honors Program Professor at Baylor University. The book, How to Think: A Survival Guide to a World at Odds, details the way we think or, more accurately, the way we don’t. Early in the book he relays... Continue Reading

I suppose the eclectic nature of thrift stores could be unsettling, even disorienting, for some people. After all, there’s no predictable supply, no reliable order, no telling what you’ll find or even what you’re looking at. Here, you might find a cut glass candy dish that looks exactly like the one your grandmother had, or... Continue Reading