Category: Uncategorized

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Ronald Wallace summarizes John Calvin’s view of usury: “For centuries before Calvin’s day, the Church and most other authorities had applied the Biblical condemnation of usury quite directly to commercial practices, and had prohibited loans at interest. Exceptions had been allowed. Interest had been deemed payable, for example, when the loan could be shown to…

Emotions

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Emotions are not neutral. Feelings are implicit, reflexive judgments about ourselves, others, and/or the world. If I love something, I judge it worthy of my love. If I feel angry about something, it is because I perceive a situation as unjust or somehow disordered. If I feel joy, it’s because judge that my experience of…

Random Notes on Ephesians

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In Ephesians 1:3, Paul tells us God the Father has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” A couple notes on this jam-packed verse: 1. Why are the blessings called “spiritual” blessings? The point is not that they are immaterial or non-physical. They are Spiritual blessings with a capital “S.”…

Preaching and the Eucharist

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I don’t think it’s helpful to think of preaching and Eucharist as in competition for the center of the worship service. They go together, as Doug Wilson says, like cooking and eating. The Word makes us hungry for the meal. The Word and Eucharist work together as inseparable aspects of covenant renewal. Each is incomplete without…

The Pentecostal Church

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I have preached many sermons on Pentecost over the years. Here are some notes that went with my May 27, 2007 sermon: A few notes on Acts 2, with Pentecost coming up this Sunday: V. 46 says that they ate together with glad and generous hearts. There is an overwhelming note of joy. Earlier in…

Baptism is the Gospel FOR YOU

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Baptism personalizes the gospel. Baptism puts your name into the promises of the gospel. Baptism turns, “for God so loved the world…” into “for God so loved Rich…” Baptism makes the gospel yours. Baptism makes God *your* God. Baptism makes the church *your* family. The call to “remember your baptism” is precisely the call to…

Baptism as Entrance

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If you visit my church (Trinity Presbyterian CREC in Birmingham), one of the first things you’ll notice when you come into our sanctuary is that the baptismal font is at the entrance. Here’s an explanation: The placement of the baptismal font at the entry point of the sanctuary is not accidental. It serves an important…

Red-Pilled Christian Nationalism

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Psalm 2 is the ultimate political red pill. You kiss the Son or get smashed by the Son. There is no third way. Every nation must choose. Every king and ruler must choose. Every person must choose. Just as we need fathers who will rise up and say, “As for me and my house, we…

The Real Race War

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White progressives are controlled by their white guilt. But rather than repenting of any of their own sins and experiencing forgiveness, rather than living up to their rhetoric by laying aside their own power for the sake minorities, they decide to punish *other* whites. The biggest oppressors of white people in our society are progressive…

Two Kinds of Ecclesiocentrism, Ecclesiocentrism vs. Liberalism, Church Discipline, and More

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