The Moral High Ground (10/22/08 - 43 Comments)
Yesterday I received an interesting email from a reader of this site. He had a question about abortion and, specifically, about abortion in the case of incest and rape. Here is an excerpt of his question: We're not living in a theocratic nation like the Old Testament Israel. Whether we like it or not, we're living in a democratic nation where people of varying beliefs, not God, make the laws. To what extent, then, can...
Amazing Grace or Random Grace? (10/20/08 - 18 Comments)
It was quite a while ago that I received an email from a father, concerned about the task of sharing the gospel with his children. While I answered the email then, I also filed it away for further thought. Today I want to answer it in a little bit more detail. Here is what this reader wrote to me: I have such a hard time grasping this notion of election as a father. God made...
The Good Ol' Hockey Game (10/15/08 - 16 Comments)
This is a short story I wrote a little over three years ago. It represents what may be the only time I've ever written fiction for this blog. While I'm quite sure I haven't thought about this story since the day I posted it, that changed yesterday when it suddenly made its way into my brain. I re-read it and thought it would be fun to post it for you. It's just a silly little...
The Burden of Perverse Assumptions (10/06/08 - 37 Comments)
Though this article discusses homosexuality, I do not intend for it to speak about the rightness or wrongness of such a lifestyle. I am sure my thoughts on whether homosexuality can be reconciled with the Bible hardly need explanation. Instead, today I want to look at one very interesting result, one very interesting development, that has come with the widespread acceptance of homosexuality. I have thought about this a little bit in the past but...
Good Saint Sarah (09/05/08 - 60 Comments)
For sheer entertainment value, I think American politics in general, and Presidential campaigns in particular, are about the best bang for my buck, even as a non-American. For little more than the cost of an internet connection I can spend endless hours being amused. This 2008 campaign may be the most entertaining yet. While I rarely use this blog to discuss politics (and especially when I'm as ignorant of a topic as I am with...
Who Do You Love More? (08/20/08 - 79 Comments)
I made my children cry. A short time ago my son and daughter came to me and Abby, representing both of them, I suppose, asked the kind of question little girls ask. It was a question they must have been thinking, or perhaps arguing, about. “Daddy, who do you love more, Mommy or us?” I thought for just a moment and told them the truth. They cried. The fact is, I love their mother more...
Out of the Park (08/15/08 - 20 Comments)
On Wednesday evening I was coaching first base when, from behind me, I overheard a chat between two of the parents from other team. “That first baseman was so nice. He would tell our guys, ‘Nice hit!’ even though he is on the other team. What a nice boy!” With just a bit of pride I smiled, knowing they weren’t talking about just any first baseman; they were talking about my boy. It was a...
A Restless Evil (08/04/08 - 6 Comments)
It is a holiday in most parts of Canada today. It is known as the “Civic Holiday” throughout the nation and may have other names assigned locally (such as “Simcoe Day” in Toronto). It is one of those holidays that seems to have been created mostly just for the joy of having a summer day away from the office. We’re not complaining. We’ve decided to make this a quiet day and we have no plans...
The Shape of Temptation (07/08/08 - 27 Comments)
As I continue reading through Waltke’s Old Testament Theology I continue to dig up pure gold. Today I’ll share yet another example. In one of the earliest chapters Waltke writes about man’s fall into sin and discusses “the shape of temptation.” Here he shows how Satan’s original act of temptation is an archetype or sorts. All of the temptation that would follow through the long line of human experience would mimic this one. Satan tempted...
How to Begin a Commentary Collection (07/04/08 - 58 Comments)
Though I'm certainly no scholar, I do enjoy putting a lot of time and effort into studying God's Word (and especially so as I have increased opportunities to teach and preach to others). As I've found real joy and benefit in such study, I've quickly realized the benefits and importance of commentaries--good commentaries. I've also learned just how inadequate my commentary collection really is. To that end I've been working towards a solid collection that...
Six Faces of New Paganism (07/03/08 - 8 Comments)
As I mentioned in a brief post yesterday, I have begun making my way through Bruce Waltke's Old Testament Theology. It is a massive book and is perhaps just a bit intimidating, but I have been enjoying it a lot. It is my first attempt to read an Old Testament theology and even through the opening chapters I can see that there is much to learn. After six introductory chapters, Waltke turns to Old Testament...
The Church Bulletin Project (06/21/08 - 22 Comments)
A short time ago I was trying to help a friend redesign the bulletin for our church. In need of inspiration, I took to the web and began looking for examples of bulletins. I was rather surprised to see that there was really not a whole lot available out there. The majority of sample bulletins I dug up were the Christian equivalent of Microsoft Word’s clip art collections—covered with awful art that someone thought would...
Pray for the Mutz and Rainey Families (Updated) (06/19/08 - 20 Comments)
You may well know of Dennis Rainey of FamilyLife (he is executive director and co-founder of FamilyLife and the daily host of the radio program Family Life Today). He has authored or co-authored several books. Rainey's daughter Rebecca recently gave birth to Molly Ann, her first child. Molly was unexpectedly born with a life-threatening medical condition. The following are a few emails explaining the situation and asking for prayer. As the father of young children,...
Seven Reasons To Study the Church's Past (06/16/08 - 15 Comments)
Though I work primarily as a web designer, and despite receiving training in another area of the computer field (network administration, for those who may be interested), my most significant education was in history. It was history that I studied while in college and it is, in many ways, still my first love. As much as I love reading Christian living and spiritual growth books, I’m always eager to dive into my next history book....
9 Things I Learned About God from "Planet Earth" (06/04/08 - 10 Comments)
Planet Earth is widely regarded as the greatest nature or wildlife series ever produced. Says David Attenborough in the opening moments, “A hundred years ago, there were one and a half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never...
God Is With Us (06/02/08 - 11 Comments)
For the past few weeks I’ve been transfixed by a word. That may sound a little bit strange but it is exactly what’s happened. It keeps coming to mind and I keep pondering it, trying to gain a sense of its meaning. Though the word appears just three times in Scripture, twice in Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of Christ and once in Matthew in the fulfillment of that prophecy, it’s a word we have...
Prayer for the Lord's Day Evening (05/18/08 - 5 Comments)
Since I committed to daily blogging I've often joked that the day I don't post, lots of people will presume I'm dead. This is one of those days that saw me hurry through the morning and then head to church. After the service we enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship with a family in our church and we then went to the evening service. Suddenly it's 7:30 and I haven't blogged. We came home to a...
The Evangelical Manifesto (05/07/08 - 17 Comments)
You have probably heard about the Evangelical Manifesto—a document that has received some attention in the press over the past few days. This manifesto was made public for the first time just a few minutes ago and is now publicly available at anevangelicalmanifesto.com. According to those who drafted the document, “The two-fold purpose of this declaration is first to address the confusions and corruptions that attend the term Evangelical in the United States and much...
Sin: What We Do or What We Are? (05/06/08 - 33 Comments)
As anyone knows who has studied the life of Jonathan Edwards, he dedicated a large portion of his ministry to thinking, writing and teaching about the freedom of the will. And, of course, he eventually published a classic work dealing with the subject. In writing the book he thought back to the days when revival had swept his church, his community and the area around it. And as he reflected on the individuals who had...
How We Kept Mother's Day (05/04/08 - 14 Comments)
On a couple of occasions I’ve posted short stories by Stephen Leacock. Well, one of my favorite Leacock tales is this one that he tells about Mother’s Day. It seemed appropriate today since we’re just a week away from the occasion. I plan to make sure that my family treats Aileen at least this well next Sunday. You’ll want to do same. One year our family decided to have a special celebration of Mother’s Day,...
