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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Canon IV: Before the creation of the world, God decreed in Christ Jesus our Lord according to his eternal purpose (Eph 3:11), in which, from the mere good pleasure of his own will, without any prevision of the merit of works or . . . Continue reading →
He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became ‘a curse for us’, according to the Scripture: ‘For cursed is . . . Continue reading →
When we’re at odds with another person sometimes things come to such a state that the only thing for it is a go-between, someone who is trusted by both parties. This is true for relations between God and humans. We often look . . . Continue reading →
The dead, in other words, are people too. Scoring points on their failings does not seem to be particularly charitable or self-interested (since one day we won’t be around to defend ourselves or the limitations of our historical moment). It is not . . . Continue reading →
Caution: This video uses a word that starts with kick and ends with an s. If you don’t want to hear this word then don’t watch the video (or mute the sound but that would pretty much ruin it since there is . . . Continue reading →
Second, I was struck by the fact that the last chapter – on post-confessional, mainline Presbyterianism – indicated just how irrelevant Presbyterianism has become in its liberal forms. With dull preaching, and always appearing to be a day late and a dollar . . . Continue reading →
In the conventional story of the 1925 Scopes Trial, popularized in the 1960 play and film, Inherit the Wind, William Jennings Bryan is the midwestern rube unable and more importantly unwilling to account for and afraid of new learning. WJB is portrayed . . . Continue reading →
I admit it. I grew up reading comic books and still enjoy a good comic-book based film. The Green Lantern wasn’t one of those. The Green Lantern was never one of my favorites. I was a Captain America guy. The 2011 Green . . . Continue reading →
Let us then draw near to Him with holiness of spirit, lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto Him, loving our gracious and merciful Father, who has made us partakers in the blessings of His elect. For thus it is written, “When . . . Continue reading →