Tag: christianity
-
Quotebook #6
“No society is healthy which tells its members to take no thought of the morrow because the state underwrites their future.” ― Richard M. Weaver “Your greatest contribution is the ones you leave behind.” — Alan Jackson (from “Small Town Southern Man”) “Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the…
-
Notes on Grounds for Divorce
No-fault divorce is a horrific tragedy that has allowed far too many spouses to destroy their families when they should have been pressured to work things out. We should strive to reform civil laws and family courts to more closely approximate God’s design for marriage, including its permanence. Marriage is entered into with vows, “til…
-
The Folly of Racial and Ethnic Arrogance
Racial and ethnic arrogance are just as sinful and foolish as personal arrogance. Humility is a virtue in every domain of life. — Some seem to think natural law teaches races should be segregated (a kind of natural law kinism of sorts). Wolfe leaned this direction in his book on Christian nationalism (though how far…
-
Encouragement to Pastors for the Weekly Grind
Fellow pastors, it’s the eve of the Lord’s Day. Prepare yourself to lead your people into the presence of the Lord tomorrow. Prepare yourself and your heart for battle so you can lead your congregation in fighting the good fight. Prepare yourself to give the comfort and healing balm of the gospel, as a physician…
-
Bring Your Guns to Church
One of the most fun conference talks I ever gave was this one in Monroe in 2020, developing a theology of self-defense and applying it to congregations. Thanks to Aaron Fudge, I now have an AI-generated transcript I can share. I have not edited this, but hopefully it’s pretty accurate. — # Bring Your Guns…
-
James 2 and Care for the Poor: Helping Without Hurting
These notes are basically sermon follow-up from sermons I preached 10/6/19 and 10/13/19 — the sermons are available of our website. — In the sermon on James 2:1-13, I mentioned identity politics. I recommend this document on race and privilege to help clarify the issue: https://theecclesialcalvinist.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/critical-theory-and-the-unity-of-the-church/ In James 2:1ff, James is saying that judgment in…
-
The Progressive Coalition: What Are We Up Against?
The rise of socialist Muslim pro-LGBTQ Democrat Zohran Mamdani to the place of apparent lock for NYC mayor raises all kinds of interesting questions about what ties together contemporary progressivism. Set aside the oddity of a city that saw firsthand how destructive Islam can be (has 9/11 been forgotten?) now choosing a Muslim to rule…
-
Theonomy and Christian Nationalism
In so many ways, the current discussions over Christian nationalism parallel discussions of Theonomy/Christian Reconstruction a generation ago. The Recons were also accused of fostering nominalism, seeking salvation in politics, etc. And they gave answers very similar to Joseph’s here (which I agree with). There is a massive blind spot in many expressions of Reformed…
-
How Cultures Change
This is an excellent summary from Joseph Spurgeon of how cultural change happens. There is a top down “elite theory” component and a bottom up “grass roots” component, and the church is central to it all since the church is both elite and grass roots, and will always be the source of spiritual renewal through…
-
What does it mean to be “pastoral”?
The adjective “pastoral” is an interesting one. What do we mean when we call a man “pastoral”? Most often today, “pastoral” seems to mean nice, soft, gentle, and most of all, winsome. But biblically, that’s not how pastors are described. It is true that pastors are called to be gentle and not quarrelsome. But it’s very…
TPC Pastor's Page 