Tag: god
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Usury
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…
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Random Notes on Ephesians
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.”…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The Cultural Power of the Church
An X post from February 2025: The goal of the church is never cultural influence or political power in themselves, but faithfulness to Jesus Christ. However, churches that are faithful to Christ will find their influence and power increasing over time. God blesses faithfulness. Churches that seek power and influence in themselves will compromise to…
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Satanic Accusation: The Devil Doesn’t Fight Fair
An X post from October ‘24: One of Satan’s favorite weapons to use against the church is false accusation. There are plenty of examples of Satanic false accusation in Scripture. Pharaoh and Abimelech make false accusations against Abraham; Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph; Job’s so-called friends make false accusations against him, following Satan who did…
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The Problem with a Demythologized Christian Nationalism: Doing Politics as if Satan Were Real
Christian politics deals not only with earthly kings and presidents, but with heavenly principalities and cosmic powers. Our political theology is incomplete if it only deals with earthly rulers and earthly realities. A true politics embraces the politics of heaven as well. The principalities and powers are political actors as well. We must contend not…
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