Why Advent is Every Day of the Year
No matter which way we feel about Christmas, as Christians we are looking forward to the arrival of a day and a gift far more wonderful than we can begin to imagine.
The celebration of Advent, from the Latin adventus”a coming, approach, arrival,” has a long and rich history in the church. The four Sundays prior to Christmas are set aside to anticipate and prepare for the celebration of the incarnation and birth of Christ on Christmas day. Perhaps your church or family is doing something special for... Continue Reading
Under a Festal Glow
When Christmas trees and mistletoe find themselves unmasked as nothing more than the green groves and high places of our modern idolatries, what is a simple Christian to do with such remonstrations?
My initial recommendation would be a stiff serving of eggnog, taken in the nearest easy chair, carefully imbibed through the whiskers of the most resplendent Santa beard you can find. That being accomplished, begin planning your Christmas menu, taking care to include a nice prime rib. It’s that time of year again! When articles... Continue Reading
The Gospel & Joy to the World
The ultimate crime for a preacher is to propagate falsehood, but perhaps the penultimate crime is making Christianity [seem] boring.
In 2 Timothy, as Paul faces death, he calls himself apostle of the promise of life (1:1). Death is a terrible foe and the unjust execution that awaited Paul is an especially pernicious way to perish. But for Paul, the “promise of life… in Christ” (1:1) solves the problem of death, as he says a few verses... Continue Reading
Root Your Faith In The Old Testament
Too often Old Testament preaching is used as a jumping off point rather than forming the backbone of a sermon series.
The Old Testament gets short shrift. And it is not just from those who say outrageous things like the Christian faith ought to be unhitched from the Old Testament or “when people struggle to believe, the Old Testament is usually the culprit.”[1] It is also manifest in how infrequently the Old Testament is preached in a... Continue Reading
The Canons Of Dort (10): Unconditional Grace Gives Assurance
Who of us is sufficiently sanctified and does enough good works of sufficient quality to be able to say that he has done enough and that God must be satisfied?
The Remonstrants agreed with Rome that Luther’s message of free justification and free sanctification, received through faith alone defined as resting, receiving, leaning on, and trusting in Christ alone would never get the job done. Of course, the Reformed churches all agreed with Luther, that salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) is the free gift of... Continue Reading
Advent and the Problem of Evil
Most attempts to answer the question how can a righteous God allow so much evil and suffering in the world? fall short, in my opinion, in two ways.
Looking at our lives now under the aspect of eternity may not solve the problem of evil entirely, but it gives a perspective that can be of great comfort to a suffering Christian. Furthermore, many of the cases that seem so problematic–why did those children die? why did God let those innocent people get killed?–have... Continue Reading
Is a Long Face More Christian?
We have received "glad tidings of great joy" and are to be so marked by hope that people will ask us to explain our inexplicable expectations.
In a doom-laden world this matters. We call people to come follow a saviour who promises unburdening (Matt 11:28), feasting (Luke 15) and joy (Gal 5:22). We call lonely and unloved people to come into a fellowship of people marked by togetherness, love and gladness. Life is hard. Difficult things happen to us. Serious... Continue Reading
For Instruction, Doctrine, and Morals: The Analogy of Scripture
The speaker had a mind to study the Bible using what has been historically described as the analogia scripturae or the analogy of Scripture.
What is the analogy of Scripture? It is a hermeneutical principle or a basic principle of Biblical interpretation which re-emerged within the Protestant Reformation. The principle is founded upon the belief that the Scriptures have one primary author, the Holy Spirit, who inspired Scripture. Identifying the Holy Spirit as the primary author does not reduce... Continue Reading
Advent: The Gentle Powerful Savior
It’s easy to forget that baby Jesus in Luke 2 is the same Jesus in Revelation 19, riding on his white horse with a sword ready to fight and destroy His enemies.
In Jesus we find an overwhelming reality. We find a person who deserves our worship for eternity but yet who would humble Himself and spend time in the womb of a woman He created for the sake of saving those who would put their faith in Him. He is both just and justifier; He is... Continue Reading
The Pastor and Difficult Bioethical Decision Making
My goal in this article is to help pastors who must shepherd and live alongside those who face bioethical dilemmas.
What is “bioethics”? It’s best understood if we break down the word. Ethics is the practical discipline of decision-making, informed by philosophy and theology. Bio- is a prefix we attach to words that are associated with life. So bioethics is the study of the ways in which we should make decisions about what do in regard to issues of... Continue Reading
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