There is a common theme in Genesis of younger sons, or occasionally even first sons, wanting to usurp their father’s role. We know something similar is going on by the nature of the curse, it involves authority and submission, implying a sin of rebellion. We might notice that Shem and Japheth (typologically Jews and Gentiles—see Irenaeus... Continue Reading

Christianity is first a hearing religion. The unimpressive “foolishness” of the preaching medium is suited to the Gospel message as are the modest visual media of the sacraments. We know these media are suitable and profitable because God has ordained them. If the words of scripture prompt visual images in our mind, that is natural.... Continue Reading

If religion should animate humanity’s work, the dominion that image-bearers have over creation isn’t merely kingly but priestly—the cultural mandate is at once a heavenly mandate, as that vertical relation with God determines how humans represent God on earth. Joshua Farris sums this up well: “As priests of creation, humanity has the function and privilege to... Continue Reading

Something is happening to young people that is not happening among other age groups. What could that be? It seems obvious that what this age cohort has in common, which sets it apart from older adults, is that it contains students in and recent graduates of the school system. If the shift from liberalism to... Continue Reading

Modern America is now Gomorrah in the hands of Cultural Marxists.  We tend to forget and ignore the fact that Marxism itself has a history, and its history always results in the shedding of the blood of millions of people.  We must be pro-life, not pro-death, even beyond the womb.  For non-cultural theologians, their hope... Continue Reading

According to wisdom from below, people can transform God’s creation into a paradise by correcting some basic flaws in the world as God made it. The proposed solution is always some simplistic reduction of reality. There are crusades to get rid of private property, crusades to get rid of certain classes of people or certain... Continue Reading

The book makes little pretense of being even-handed, offering instead a series of exposés of the various tricks of the trade that managers use to exploit workers and oppress consumers. There simply are no “good bosses” that populate this narrative. Nor, strikingly, are there any bad workers. It may well be true, as Ahmari charges,... Continue Reading

Why does the resurrection and the Word become flesh, grieve? Why as John reports was Jesus, “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled (11:38).” He was moved by love. Allowing the crowd to interpret Jesus’s action for us, John offers the following commentary on Jesus’s tears: “So the Jews said, “See how he loved... Continue Reading

When Paul was no longer able to preach in the synagogues in Ephesus because of persecution, he gathered his disciples in Tyrannus Hall for further teaching in the Scriptures (Acts 19:8-10). The seventeenth century Puritan minister Richard Baxter (1615-1691) sought to instruct his congregation in the Word by combining home visitation with biblical and catechetical... Continue Reading

It’d be easier not to ask. It’d be easier to accept the niceties and generalities. But it wouldn’t be right, not if this pastor will be a shepherd after God’s own heart. Reflecting on my own ministry, I recall instances when I should have listened to that shepherd-sense to press harder, to go deeper, to... Continue Reading