Tag: christianity
-
Baptism as Entrance
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…
-
Two Kinds of Ecclesiocentrism, Ecclesiocentrism vs. Liberalism, Church Discipline, and More
I have called myself “ecclesiocentric” but I think the meaning of the label often gets confused with other things. If ecclesiocentrism means cultural and political retreat (eg, pietism), I want no part of it. An ecclesiocentric church will assume the center. An ecclesiocentric church will operate out of and build upon the reality that Jesus…
-
1 Samuel 24: A Parable and a Paradigm for Our Times
This is a brief follow-up to last Sunday’s sermon. I’d like to develop my thoughts on 1 Samuel 24 more fully later when I have more time, but here are a few notes. The meaning of 1 Samuel 24: David was Israel against for the sake of Israel because he loved Israel. (Alternatively: David was…
-
Preaching on Negative World in 2003: Lessons from Jonah
Going through some old work of mine, I found an unfinished/unedited collection of sermon on the book of Jonah, preached when I was at Auburn Avenue in Monroe, LA in the early 2000s. Uri Brito and I eventually published a short commentary on Jonah, but prior to that I had been planning a much longer…
-
A Note on the Bryan Chapell Debacle
I was asked my opinion on this on X, so I gave it: I have some friends and some old FV enemies on that list. But I respect many of the guys who opposed me over FV far, far more than I respect Chapell after this. At least those men were forthright about what they…
-
John Knox and Liturgical Nationalism (and other notes on races, nations, and ordo amoris)
Once again, I have created a stir on X. Here, I will give the original post and then my repsonses to various criticisms (if they can be called that), along with a some additional thoughts. — “Give me Scotland, or I die.” We should think and pray like John Knox. Knox prayed for the Lord…
-
Racism, Nationalism, Empathy, Ordo Amoris, Meritocracy Pros and Cons, and Other Miscellanies
Some older and more recent material, mostly from X: — From fall of 2024: America has never been more divided than we are right now. Someone might counter, “But what about the Civil War, when we literally divided into two nations, 3,000,000 men went to war with each other, and 700,000 were killed? What about…
-
Notes on Proverbs, Ephesians, Liturgy and Other Miscellanies
Sin is the self turned in on itself. Faith is the opposite of sin — it’s the self turning away from the self to God. —- Christians, a reminder: Jesus cancelled every funeral he ever attended. He will reverse your funeral, too, at the last day. The gospel in its new covenant form was first…
-
Political Theology and the Principalities and Powers – Quotes and More
From Oliver O’Donovan’s book The Desire of Nations, summarizing the meaning of Christendom: The more the political character of Israel’s hope engages us, the more we need to know how it has actually shaped the government of nations. The more the problem of our own modernity engages us, the more we need to see modernity…
-
Sexual Obligation in Marriage — An Interpretative Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 7:1-9
This is an interpretive paraphrase/rewriting of 1 Corinthians 7:1-9, a key text on marital sexuality. If Paul had elaborated and explained himself more fully in these verses, I think he would have said something like this: [1] You wrote to me, “It is good for a man to not touch – that is, to not…
TPC Pastor's Page 