“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint” (Alexander Hamilton). This common idea was corollary of human depravity.   In “What the Founders Didn’t Trust,” Barton Swaim argued, as many of our posts have, that the depravity of man... Continue Reading

The Lord had made clear that the road from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth was paved with suffering, the pathway of the cross. It turned out pretty quickly that the life of the church was not going to be some fairytale honeymoon.    The honeymoon, at least proverbially, is one of the best... Continue Reading

God sees beauty beyond our marred natures, He sees possibility beyond our fractured circumstances, He sees ability beyond our broken bodies, and so He shapes it, He assembles it, and He polishes it into something wondrous, something worthy of His name.   In many of the great European palaces, you can find entire walls that... Continue Reading

Disparities come about for all sort of reasons.…Thomas Sowell is one clear thinker who has discussed this in detail. He has penned dozens of vitally important books that dissect and dismantle the reigning leftist orthodoxies.   Why do some people, or groups, or nations, seem to do better than others in various ways? The standard... Continue Reading

Our spiritual gifts (1 Timothy 4:14) are not for our benefit; they’re for everybody except us. Our task is to serve those alongside us by doing well what we can do, in order to strengthen them in their faith and in their walk.   Having laid out the qualifications for the church ministry offices, Paul... Continue Reading

To watch a sheep wander toward a cliff and refuse to use the shepherd’s crook to pull them back is pastoral malpractice. The keys of the kingdom are heavy, and church censures are agonizingly painful for the elders who must administer them. Yet, they are a vital gift from our King—a spiritual immune system given... Continue Reading

To strive side by side for the faith of the gospel is far more than a call to teamwork. It is a call to embody together the self-giving life of the crucified and exalted Lord.   Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and... Continue Reading

Sermons are fundamentally a spiritual exercise, more art than science, more gift than craft. When centered on faith in the Son of God, who gave Himself for us, they are nothing less than an encounter with the living God.   Introduction1 I first wrote these maxims on the social media platform Formerly Known as Twitter... Continue Reading

On the same day, the very day of their ordination, two of the priests, Nadab and Abihu, sinned grievously, offending God’s holiness. The Lord killed them. We learn sober lessons. God regulates worship. Worshipping the Lord is a matter of life and death. Destruction comes to all who do not worship God as he has... Continue Reading

A new Dark Age is upon us. The therapeutic culture has perverted our culture’s moral imagination.…We truly live in a world where good is called evil and evil is called good and where the murder of innocents is seen as a sign of moral progress. Indeed, the former Dark Ages perhaps don’t seem quite so... Continue Reading