Category: Uncategorized
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May-June ’25 Miscellanies: Calvin’s Ecclesiocentrism, the Politics of the Gospel, Racism and Nationalism, Mahler vs. White Debate, P*rn and the Jews, Theonomy vs. Christian Nationalism vs. Libertarianism, Responsibility and Masculinity, Nostalgia, Atheism, and more…
A lot of this post (though not all of it) first appeared on X. — When John Calvin described the office of pastor, he centered the pastor’s work on the three marks of the church: pastors are to faithfully preach God’s Word, rightly administer the sacraments, and seek the proper application of discipline. But Calvin…
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Dispensationalism’s False Prophets
Does Genesis 17:8 mean Israel as a permenant right to the land of Palestine and deserves unconditional political support from Christians and America? Here are a few considerations: This land promise was not unconditional. See Genesis 17:1 and the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 27-28. Later in history, God judged Israel and Judah by exiling them…
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A Thread on Natural Affection
A Thread on Natural Affection: In recent years, the Reformed segment of the church has been roiled by debates over natural affection. Interestingly, Scripture has very little explicit material on natural affection (“storge” in the Greek), but it does mention the lack of natural affection (“astorge”) as a sign of apostasy and idolatry in a…
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The Folk Wisdom of Country Music
I’ve written several posts over the last year or so that invoke country music as a source of folk wisdom. A few examples: — We need more dads like the one Ashley McBryde sings about in her song “Bible and a .44.” Great song, with a great vision of fatherhood. — “Well, you know what’s…
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Notes on the Use of YHWH and Jehovah
Some are arguing we should never use the name “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” for God, even when the Tetragrammaton was used in the Hebrew OT. My response: What’s the concern here? I don’t see why not knowing the exact pronunciation for the Tetragrammaton matters. We don’t know how lots of ancient words were pronounced. In some…
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The Means of Grace and Pastoral Ministry
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 is a key text for understanding pastoral ministry, especially preaching: “[12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but…
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Towards a Practical Theology of Covenant Breaking: Nothing Objective Guarantees Subjective Faithfulness
A reminder of a point I’ve made many times in various places: Nothing objective guarantees subjective faithfulness. The objectivity of the covenant is real and it matters. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the preached gospel are all gifts, objectively speaking. They are all grace in tangible form. Church membership — life in the body and…
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ERH
Rosenstock-Huessy’s brilliant “cross of reality” is an incredibly helpful way of thinking about life and ministry. The “cross of reality” integrates the tensions of human/Christian experience across time and space. One axis of the cross is the tension between past and future, the other axis is the tension between in-group and out-group. We are constantly…
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Chilton on Western Civ
David Chilton on the blessings of Christian civilization/Christendom: The whole rise of Western Civilization – science and technology, medicine, the arts, constitutionalism, the jury system, free enterprise, literacy, increasing productivity, a rising standard of living, the high status of women -is attributable to one major fact: the West has been transformed by Christianity. True, the…
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Some Notes on Acts 27-28
Some notes on Acts 27-28: *Paul and his shipmates arrive on shore on the 14th day. Whether this is the Sabbath day, the Lord’s Day, or a generic 14th day, doesn’t much matter. What matters is that it is symbolically associated with the Sabbath. *Stoking up a fire on the Sabbath was a capital crime…
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