Waiting until the body to point your people to the text. I’m a stickler on getting to your passage in the intro, and not waiting until the body of the sermon. The reason for this is that I don’t want to accidentally communicate that our agenda drives how we go to the Bible. Instead, I... Continue Reading

For example, “How can you be so upset about my behavior in a concert when the world is filled with real and violent injustices?” Or, as I have heard several times in the past six weeks, “Why are people so concerned about what’s happening with Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill when our Christian brothers and... Continue Reading

Once again, it is not sinful to desire God’s justice or the justice of the governing authorities that wield God’s sword (Rom. 13:1-7) or Christ’s justice through biblical discipline in the local church (Matt. 18:15-20). But, when justice is not rendered, we must trust that vengeance is God’s, He will repay, says the Lord (Rom. 12:9). In... Continue Reading

Sommerville does not argue for a complete repudiation of the news, and neither do I. But we must keep the news in its place. Most of us would do well to read the news less often. We would be wiser, happier, and more useful if we read more books and fewer blogs, if we read... Continue Reading

If the charge that Dr. Jones has put forward here has any weight at all, it rests on the idea that refusing participation to the table demands a metaphysical statement about those refused – namely, that they do not belong to Christ at all, in any sense.  That’s always the charge of Presbyterians against us... Continue Reading

“May we all give the Holy Spirit the honor, praise, and worship he is due. The Father chooses those who will receive justice and those who will receive mercy. The Son lives and dies for his flock; all those who call upon the name of the Lord. And it is the Spirit who applies the choice... Continue Reading

“Though we must make effort in our growth in godliness (2 Peter 1:5), the Spirit empowers through and through. The Bible is not a cheap infomercial telling us to change and then assuring our little ponytail hearts, “You can do it!” We have already been changed. We are already new creations in Christ (2 Cor.... Continue Reading

“The signing of a piece of paper is not a matter of affixing one’s signature in ink to a meaningless document. The signing of a marriage certificate is an integral part of what the Bible calls a covenant. A covenant is made publicly before witnesses and with formal legal commitments that are taken seriously by... Continue Reading

“Beyond free markets, the Bible favorably presents the elements of an entrepreneurial economy where wages and profits are earned and people prosper. For example, the virtuous woman not only “makes linen garments and sells them,” but also “perceives that her merchandise is profitable” (Proverbs 31:24). Workers were expected to profit from their labor and deserved... Continue Reading

“It is the teaching of God’s Word that Jesus is the true Israel of God, that his incarnation, obedience, death and resurrection was not a by-product of Israel’s rejection of the offer of an earthly kingdom, but the fulfillment of God’s plan from all eternity. This is what Jesus told the disciples on the road... Continue Reading