In the medieval and Reformation periods the West had an agrarian economy. In the Modern period we had an industrial-manufacturing economy. By the 1980s we had a service economy. Today, according to Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine (Strategic Horizons LLP), we live . . . Continue reading →
September 2013 Archive
Valley Center In Early Autumn

This gallery contains 3 photos.
Heidelcast 40: Christ, Culture, And Confession
We confess that Christ is Lord but what does that entail for the way Christians relate to the broader culture? Are we Christians because the culture is Christian? Do Christians separate themselves completely from the culture? Are we called to transform the . . . Continue reading →
More From Escondido
Grammar Guerilla: Impactful And Efforting
English is a wonderfully flexible and acquisitive language. Estimates vary but as the British and European colonial powers that harvested antiques and riches from the Mediterranean, so English has harvested a significant number of words from a variety of sources. English is . . . Continue reading →
Where The Scenery Is Plain And The People Are Scenic
My area of the country (south Mississippi, the “Pine Belt”) is not especially picturesque. Very low rolling hills, hillocks really, and miles and miles of woodland. In this little part of the Deep South, though, if the scenery is plain, the people . . . Continue reading →
Beza On The First Use Of The Law
There then is the first use of the preaching of the law; to make known our innumerable faults so that in ourselves we begin to be miserable and greatly humble ourselves; in short, to beget in us the first degree of repentance . . . Continue reading →
Southwest Escondido In Late Summer
Ignatius On The Atonement
Neither the ends of the earth nor the kingdoms of this age are of any use to me. It is better for me to die for Jesus Christ than to rule over the ends of the earth. Him I seek, who died . . . Continue reading →
Variety Of Reformed Views On Mediatorial Kingship
Gillespie’s view of Christ’s kingship in relation to the nations is extensively set out in the pamphlets he wrote an answer to the publications of the Rev. Thomas Coleman, an Assembly commissioner and rector of St. Peter’s Church, Cornhill, in London. Coleman . . . Continue reading →
Grammar Guerilla: Agreement v Agreeance
One of the weirder abstract nouns that has popped up recently is the word agreeance, as it, “I am in agreeance with that position.” A noun is a person, place, or thing. An abstract noun is a concept. One cannot see, touch, . . . Continue reading →
Heidegger And Turretin On Amyraut (Hypothetical Universalism)
Canon VI: Wherefore, we can not agree with the opinion of those who teach: l) that God, moved by philanthropy, or a kind of special love for the fallen of the human race, did, in a kind of conditioned willing, first moving . . . Continue reading →
This Christian Life
One of my favorite radio programs is This American Life starring Ira Glass. I stumbled across this show several years ago, and for a while I did not understand why I was so attracted to it. Glass does not have a classic “radio voice” . . . Continue reading →
Boys And Girls Are Different
What can we do to improve the prospects of boys? For one thing, we must acknowledge the fact that boys and girls are different. In many education and government circles, it remains taboo to broach the topic of sex differences. Many gender . . . Continue reading →
We Find It In The Gospel
One of the more frustrating things about getting older is that I seem to spend more time looking for things. It’s such a waste of time. It would be great if someone would just tell me where my keys are. Because we . . . Continue reading →
Heidegger and Turretin On The Election Of Christ
Canon V: Christ himself is also included in the gracious decree of divine election, not as the meritorious cause, or foundation prior to election itself, but as being himself also elect (I Pet 2:4, 6). Indeed, he was foreknown before the foundation . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 39: Confessional Church Planting In Cincinnati
An important part of recovering the Reformed confession is calling the churches back to our theology, piety, and practice. Church planting is a part of that practice. We’ve always been “missional.” We were missional before there was a cool word for it. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 38: The Prevalence Of Prevarication
The law of God is always relevant but the ninth commandment seems particularly relevant right now. We live in a time when truth seems to be out of fashion. I can’t remember a time when there has seemed to be so little . . . Continue reading →
Online Now: Worship Matters
Earlier this summer (Summer ends 21 September 2013) the good folks of the Associated Presbyterian Church invited me to contribute an essay on worship to the denominational magazine, APC News. It appeared as “Worship Matters” in APC News, 160 (July/August 2013), 5–9. It’s . . . Continue reading →
The Inherent Goodness Of Work
One of the casualties of the West’s cultural shift from Christian theism to Deism, and from that to late modern subjectivism (and neo-paganism) is the death of the Christian work ethic. The act of work has been emptied of its intrinsic value. . . . Continue reading →