Tag: faith

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The world tends to fight worry with the “power of positive thinking.” Worldy wisdom says, “The things you’re so worried about probably won’t happen.” That might be true to a point, but it is not true enough. It’s really fighting worry with wishful thinking — and perhaps even with lies. Scripture gives us better weapons.…

March and April ’25 on X — Marriage, Parenting, Race/Nationalism, Psalms, Baptism and Covenant, Liberalism and Libertarianism, the Papacy, the Gospel, Pastoral Ministry, Christendom and Christian Nationalism, Ecclesiastes, and More

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Some of my recent X posts (roughly mid-March to early May ‘25): — If you haven’t yet read John Murray’s article, “The Church: Its Definition in Terms of ‘Visible’ and ‘Invisible’ Invalid,” your theological education is still incomplete. — “Preach as a dying man to dying men, as one who might never preach again.” –…

Notes on Parenting

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I encourage parents to make the discipline of their young children as liturgical as possible. How can discipline be a liturgy? What is a liturgy of discipline? Discipline should be consistent not only in that parents discipline for the same offenses, but in that discipline should be carried out in a regimented way. Basically: Give…

Husbands, Take Out the Trash

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If a husband and wife are short with each other, snappy, impatient, if small disagreements escalate into major conflicts, if they constantly accuse and feel accused, etc., the presenting issue is never the *real* issue. In many cases, the problem is that a million small disruptions in the relationship have never been dealt with and…

Jesus Covers David (Psalms)

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We probably all have a favorite cover song – you know, a song that exists in an original version but which has been picked up and performed by another singer. One of my favorites is Johnny Cash’s “Hurt.” It was originally by Nine Inch Nails but Johnny Cash did a cover of it and….well, let’s…

Notes on Hebrews 1:1-4

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Hebrews 1:1-4 is perhaps the most spectacular opening statement in any NT epistle. It’s like a tightly compressed spring that will pop open over the rest of the letter. It’s like flower whose petals will unfold over the next 13 chapters. The whole letter is summarized in these jam-packed verses. A couple observations: First, Paul…

The Irony of Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday is a day full of ironies. Palm Sunday is not merely a pep rally for crowds welcoming Jesus to the city. They thought he would be a conquering king who would redeem them. They cried out, “Hosanna,” meaning, “save us now!” or “please save us!” They expected him to be inaugurated king and…

Race, Ethnicity, and Sanctification

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Most of this was originally posted on X and is related to discussions there: It’s true Paul agreed with the generalization that Cretans are liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons (Titus 1:12). It’s also true that having carried out a gospel ministry at Crete, Paul expected Titus to find Cretan men who met the qualifications…

1 Samuel 23: Sermon Follow-up

Apr 23, 2025

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in Sermon Follow-Up

I preached from 1 Samuel 23 on Easter Sunday. A few notes: The structure of the chapter is obvious. Two stories of David being betrayed (by the men of Keilah and Ziph) are wrapped around a story of loyalty to David (demonstrated by Jonathan). It’s disloyalty/loyalty sandwich, with faithful Jonathan at the center, surrounded by…

Lord’s Supper: Hors D’Oeuvres of the New Creation

Apr 19, 2025

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