Several days ago two of my grandsons, ages four and two, were very serious about the fun they were having. They were in an empty church, marching in deliberate fashion, starting at the back of the church in the middle aisle, and heading toward the altar at the front. (more…) Read more

We all hear about the supposed “God of Wrath” in the Hebrew Bible, and the supposed “God of Love” of the New Testament. Those who draw that distinction don’t know their Bibles very well. (more…) Read more

In the wake of Obergefell, many orthodox Christians are rightly asking what would happen if churches and church schools/pregnancy centers/adoption agencies lost their tax-exempt status and deductions were no longer allowed for contributions to Christian institutions. Would these churches and schools survive? Jean and I are in the land Down Under (Australia) for three weeks.  Here churches and church schools do not benefit from tax-deductible contributions.  With a few exceptions, they are on their own financially. Yet there is much... Read more

from chapter 4 in Paul House, Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision. 1. Bonhoeffer believed that seminary is a time for students to learn how to lead a faithful Christian community. 2. “Let them thank God on their knees and realize: it is grace, nothing but grace, that we are still permitted to live in the community of Christians today.” (more…) Read more

More from Paul House’s Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision  . . . 1. Bonhoeffer believed that church renewal depended on a group of pastors formed by Christ reforming the church in a visible body in a  hostile environment (this and the following from chapter 3). 2. Grace must be stressed, but only biblical grace, which is costly grace.  Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Too many think that since we cannot be saved by works, then we should do... Read more

Bonhoeffer’s underground seminary at Finkenwalde provided a rigorous program for his charges.  They were facing many  perils, and he knew that rigorous training was needed. Paul House’s chapter 2 in Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision details the program. (more…) Read more

Paul House has published a new book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s underground seminary that could hardly be more relevant today. It is Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision: A Case for Costly Discipleship and Life Together (Crossway).  This week I will be sharing highlights from it.  Here are a few. (more…) Read more

St. Paul wrote that heresies are good for the Church: There must be heresies among you in order that those who are genuine among you might be made plain (1 Cor. 11.19, my trans.). (more…) Read more

It’s confusing to many Americans today.  I mean the definition of marriage. Today philosopher Christopher Wolfe helps us get to ten items that are essential to what marriage must be if it is to be marriage. (more…) Read more

And thank God for that. Neither does the serious play of children have serious purpose for “getting things done.”  Nor does great art or music. But the child “hard at work” at play and the artist bending mind and body to produce beauty are both doing what they were made by God to do.  They are expressing their inner nature. This is what worship is–the purposeless (in terms of “getting things done”) play in which we stand in adoration before... Read more