Shake yourself from the dust and arise. Loose the bonds from your neck.
We all have idols. However, we rarely have little carven figurines representing any one of the pantheon of so-called deities to which we worship and make sacrifices. John Calvin said that a man’s heart is an idol factory; we are exceptionally good at manufacturing functional saviors. So it's not as if we don't have idols… Continue reading When The Culture’s Idols Fall
King Alfred the Based In an era where the Christian voice is diminishing in the public square and cultural foundations are shifting beneath our feet, the question of how to faithfully cultivate the kingdom of God through cultural engagement looms large for believers. As stewards of a faith that teaches the earth and its fullness… Continue reading Cultivating the Kingdom: Christian Options to Cultural Challenges
I'm going to start a new series where I will occasionally post some thoughts and meditations on various doctrinal and confessional standards, starting with the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC). I'll call it Westminster Wednesdays or something like that. We catechize our son (see below for what that means) every night, singing songs made to help… Continue reading Confessions, Creeds, and Catechisms
God’s people are a singing people. Adam sang a song the first time he saw Eve (Gen 2:23), and God’s people will still be singing at the end of all things (Rev 4:8, 11; 5:11-13; 19:6). That means we sing as the church militant (the church that exists now, in a cosmic war with sin… Continue reading War Songs for the Church Militant
Edinburgh Castle 5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God… Continue reading Of Truer Substance: A Meditation on Psalm 62
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times. You have probably seen versions of those sentences floating around social media. The meme implies that we are in the latter stage, hard times created by soft people. The cyclical story of Israel in the… Continue reading The Tent Stake Option
The content highlights God's constant protection and victory over His people, emphasizing that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. It stresses the importance of joyful warfare, resisting lies, embracing truth, and standing firm in the face of opposition. It encourages unwavering faith, rejection of doubt, and the pursuit of future victories despite past mistakes.
Some years ago one of our pastors recommended that my wife and I have a big end-of-the-year date where we discuss the highs and lows of the previous year and goals for the next. We call this our “Year in Review, Year in Preview” date. We have done this almost every year since 2015 and… Continue reading Year in Review, Year in Preview: How Our Annual Couple’s Date Strengthens Family Bonds
Last week I wrote that if you want to create or change culture, then you have to obey God, get married, and have babies. Another angle would be to say that to create or change culture then you have to obey God and make disciples (both physically and spiritually) who obey God. But it doesn’t… Continue reading Disciples or Defectors
In a previous post, I pondered man's resistance to authority and said that we tend to tolerate it when there is a perceived benefit. This is an example of a social contract. We have unconscious social contracts all around us in everyday life. For example, in my backyard, a solemn pact governs our family's relationship… Continue reading Chickens and Social Contracts
Awake! Put on strength! 