In The Marks of God’s Children Jean Taffin (1529-1602) provides the following great quote regarding the gospel: “When [God] causes the gospel to be preached, it is certainly the case that he is not saying, ‘I have come to save Simon Peter or Cornelius the centurion or Mary Magdalene.’ He calls no one by the name given them by men at the time of their circumcision or baptism. Were that […]
I usually read the daily obituaries for several reasons. One, it’s like reading a collection of biographies. Two, it helps to “number our days aright” in that our name will be listed someday soon. Three, it gives insight into what most folks hold dear. How will we sum our lives up in a sliver of a newspaper column? The Austin American-Statesman publishes exceptionally good (i.e., full & informative) obituaries. However, […]
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11.28-30). His name is not as important as his story. For four hours last week God demanded our attention on […]
Hardly a Patristic studies devotee, I am recently intrigued by Christopher Hall’s Reading the Scripture with the Church Fathers. One early quote has caught my attention: “The Scriptures have been given to the church, are read, preached, heard and comprehended within the community of the church, and are safely interpreted only by those whose character is continually being formed by prayer, worship, meditation, self-examination, confession and other means by which […]
Older women. . . are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.(Titus 2.3-5, NASB) Older women are to be […]
After dusting off Monday’s filth Augustine greeted me warmly again. He always seems to know under what rock I was hiding. “Grant my prayer, O Lord, and do not allow my soul to wilt under the discipline which you prescribe. Let me not tire of thanking you for your mercy in rescuing me from all my wicked ways, so that you may be sweeter to me than all the joys […]
Is it just me or do all pastors feel on Monday like: 1. I didn’t know my Bible well enough yesterday. There were too many questions left on the table.2. I was not prepared enough in prayer and meditation. Rather, I just rushed to the pulpit after a dizzying morning of “Hellos,” “I’m sorries,” and “Good to see yous.” The time I complained about not having should have been spent […]
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation (Isaiah 12.2). I recently listened to a recent sermon on Psalm 90 by Sinclair Ferguson (for you other Ferguson fans you can now hear his weekly sermons from First Pres’, Columbia, SC). In it was a statement that still rings with Scottish brogue […]
Apart from such external [unmentioned] things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches (2 Cor 11.28). There are few, if any, who will experience what Paul endured in Christian ministry. In Corinthians 11.12-27, he takes inventory of his life as an apostle—prisons, floggings, death beds, stonings, shipwrecks, homelessness, muggings, deprivation, and danger from all sides. Paul hints in v28 there is even still more […]
In an article this morning a New York Times journalist defined Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito’s approach to Constitutional interpretation as “originalism.” This Constitutional hermeneutic is further defined by Alito himself, who was quoted as saying, “In interpreting the Constitution I think we should look to the text of the Constitution, and we should look to the meaning that someone would have taken from the text of the Constitution at […]