A Tidbit on “Taste”
This week I am studying Psalm 34, and the two instances (one noun, one verb) of a Hebrew word for “taste” (טעם) caught my attention.… Read More »A Tidbit on “Taste”
Articles on Culture
Authority and Authoritarianism
When authority is usually discussed, about three sentences later, the word authoritarian will make its entrance. In fact, for some, authority is authoritarian – there is… Read More »Authority and Authoritarianism
Pastors – Become Literate in Christian Culture
When the topic of music and worship comes up, a favorite slap-down argument against thoughtful discrimination of music is that pastors need not study music… Read More »Pastors – Become Literate in Christian Culture
Authority – Its Origin
The English words authority and author come from the same Latin root, auctor – an originator. Strange how far we’ve come from older ideas, where… Read More »Authority – Its Origin
Authority
The popular consciousness has knee-jerk reflexes when it comes to authority. Play the word-association game with the average person, show him the flash-card “Authority” and… Read More »Authority
Judging Matters of Freedom
Modern Christians are in the habit of labelling all sorts of things as ‘matters of Christian liberty’ or ‘areas of preference’. We do not doubt… Read More »Judging Matters of Freedom
Matters of Conscience and Freedom
Scripture devotes two sections of the New Testament to explain how certain choices in the Christian life are not explicitly or implicitly forbidden or prescribed:… Read More »Matters of Conscience and Freedom
Freedom and Churches
A church is a voluntary society. Baptists believe that people join churches not by birth but by choice. People freely associate, and can freely disassociate.… Read More »Freedom and Churches
Freedom – Societal and Individual
Liberty is the absence of unwarranted coercion, leaving the human open to persuasion and his own agency to choose what he ought. Freedom does not,… Read More »Freedom – Societal and Individual
Freedom
Freedom is another word that the disingenuous enjoy. Just as the Tolerazis cry ‘intolerance’ and pose as victims even while they terrorize and bully others,… Read More »Freedom
Rehabilitating “Tolerance”
How do we rehabilitate this word? First, we must insist that tolerance does not mean agreement, nor does disagreement mean intolerance. Tolerance actually suggests disagreement,… Read More »Rehabilitating “Tolerance”
What Psalm 137 Does
Over the past several weeks, we have been looking at Psalm 137 and its relevance for Christian today. I have presented the historical background of… Read More »What Psalm 137 Does
Tolerance (2) – We Oppressed Left-Handers
It is becoming abundantly clear to many that the call for tolerance has in fact not been a call to tolerate all opinions everywhere, but… Read More »Tolerance (2) – We Oppressed Left-Handers
Dual Citizens
Last week, as part of our study of Psalm 137, I pointed out the striking similarities between the conditions in which the Hebrews exiled in… Read More »Dual Citizens
Tolerance (1)
Words are more than names. Words are things that either correspond to something in reality, or fail to. When words fail to correspond to something… Read More »Tolerance (1)
A People in Exile
Last week I presented the historical context for Psalm 137, a context of the people of God living in exile among a pagan people. Now once… Read More »A People in Exile
The Historical Context of Psalm 137
Last week I began a series looking at Psalm 137. I am going to do two things with the psalm; first, I will look at… Read More »The Historical Context of Psalm 137
God’s People in Exile
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres.… Read More »God’s People in Exile
Where is Christ in Christmas?
The following article was originally published in the Nov/Dec 2006 edition of Frontline Magazine. Christmas—a very mention of the word produces delight and expectation in the hearts… Read More »Where is Christ in Christmas?
Vote so as to obey the Second Greatest Commandment
The current presidential election in the United States has presented a conundrum of sorts for conservative Christians. My aim here is not to defend any position… Read More »Vote so as to obey the Second Greatest Commandment