Like Augustine’s De Civitate, Orosius’s Historiarum is both a realistic and optimistic survey of history. It is realistic in its depiction of the miseries of war, which stands in contrast against the general acclaim of warring heroes in classical writings. It is also realistic in comparing facts with facts and not with nostalgic feelings toward a rosy past. But... Continue Reading

Yes, Herod was the King of the Jews who killed children to hold onto his power, but Jesus, He is the Christ, the King of the Jews who surrendered his power, became a child and was killed for his children. When our suffering and the suffering of this world seems too much we have to ask... Continue Reading

According to Erwin Lutzer, it is his character, his nature, and his will. I’ve heard it said that character is who you are when no one is looking. God reveals himself as someone who existed long before there was anyone looking, and then as now, his character was marked by love.   God has graciously chosen to... Continue Reading

The spectacle of the distress of Mary and her companions enraged Jesus because it brought poignantly home to his consciousness the evil of death, its unnaturalness, its “violent tyranny” as Calvin (on verse 38) phrases it. In Mary’s grief, he “contemplates” — still to adopt Calvin’s words (on verse 33), — “the general misery of... Continue Reading

Christians seeking to be faithful to the Scriptures want to show kindness and compassion to these individuals but are also bound to respect the law. It is true that many undocumented immigrants have chosen to come to the U.S. illegally under very difficult circumstances, fleeing serious economic hardship or even persecution. However, except for those... Continue Reading

Set your eyes on eternity. This is not a means of ignoring reality, but the only way of truly facing it. There is a day when all the pain you suffer from the presence of sin and Satan will vanish. Focus more on your future accounting before Christ than on those who fail you on... Continue Reading

Having a Philippians 1:21 heart doesn’t mean you despise the God-given joys and giggles of life on earth—it means you realize that another life’s coming, another world, one that’s better than this one, even at its best. And not better by a little, but better by far.    A few weeks ago, my seven-year-old informed me... Continue Reading

The Law Amendment simply clarifies what our Constitution already calls for—close identification with the BF&M. Messengers have already proved their commitment to hold the line on the BF&M’s teaching on female pastors.   If you had told me ten years ago that female pastors would become an item of contention again in the Southern Baptist... Continue Reading

Americans of all stripes need to seriously reassess their relationship with the country’s major institutions in light of how poorly so many of them are performing and the caliber of the people leading them.   William Lind’s 4th Generation War concept is rooted in the decline of the legitimacy of the state. He writes: At... Continue Reading

For the study in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers looked at the emotions expressed in lyrics, how many different and complicated words were used, and how often they were repeated. “Across all genres, lyrics had a tendency to become more simple and more repetitive,” Zangerle summarised. The results also confirmed previous research which had... Continue Reading