I've been meaning, for the last three days, to return to the subject of prayer which I happened to bring up on Friday in a moment of full blown hysteria. I said that the homeschooling nut shouldn't pray in fear, expecting God to send more suffering as a result of the prayer, but should just pray because God is a gracious God and will answer that prayer. A very nice person in the comments then went on to articulate exactly... Read more
The slavery we are familiar with is called “chattel slavery”. The word “chattel” means “moveable article of personal property”. Chattel slavery existed in America before the Civil War. It exists today. Girls all over the world are sold by their parents and become market items to be used and abused. Chattel slavery is involuntary—human beings are forcibly torn from their family and homes. It’s life-long. You can’t just decide you’ve had enough and leave. It’s dehumanizing. A slave is an... Read more
This Sunday I preached on Mark’s account of Jesus’ arrest in Mark 14:43-52. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. Peter takes matters into his own hands. Everything seems to be coming undone. But Jesus steps forward the divine conductor, orchestrating his arrest, protecting his disciples, saving Peter. You can listen to it below: Here’s an excerpt: The soldiers move forward. A disciple “47….drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.” Mark doesn’t... Read more
I'm on my second nine year old. I was really appalled, a few years ago, to wake up and find out that no matter what Elphine did, the poor child was constantly standing around on my last nerve. If she blinked it was in an irritating way. If she shuffled across the floor it was with an air of disrespect. When she tried to talk to anyone, it was in an out of sorts way like she had turned into... Read more
I have long been desiring a new blog. Not because I haven’t loved posting here all this long time. As the years have wended themselves away, through crisis and quiet, through babies and exhaustion, always in the church, always with a big pile of laundry and a sink full of dishes, I have lived here working out my salvation with fear and trembling. Looking back through eight years of posts there are some bright moments and some funny hysteria but... Read more
I've always thought it was a great mercy that Moses didn't get to go into the Promised Land. Certainly it was a judgement to work so hard but then not go in to enjoy Israel's inheritance, only standing on a mountain to see what all the fuss was about before being gathered to your people. But it's like God jumped at the very first opportunity to keep Moses from going into the land, knowing that he had done a complete... Read more
I like to think of myself as a reasonably good cook but lately, maybe because it's February, there are always at least two kids walking right up to the Complaining Line, if not actually crossing over it. Our kids aren't allowed to say anything negative at meal times about the food. They can express preferences at other times. Like in the parish hall of the church to their friends they can say insane things like “I don't like bacon”. Hey,... Read more
A favorite proposition of those who discount New Testament authority goes something like this: “The apostles had no idea that their teachings would be considered God’s word on par with the Old Testament. The Church imposed that idea onto their writings long after the fact”. But, as is typical, those who discount scripture tend not to know scripture well enough to make exegetically substantive arguments and they count on your ignorance matching their own. There are a number of texts... Read more
I am getting through Numbers as best I can on these bleak mornings and am finally up to chapter 30. I always feel that a book should be over by chapter 30 and yet so many of them go on for another 30 after that. Numbers chapter 30 is a long instruction about vows. If a man makes a vow, says The Lord, he shall keep the vow or the oath to which he binds himself. He shall do, says... Read more
We started our new teaching series on slavery in the bible during Christian Education this Sunday. In this first session we: 1. Discussed the differences between slavery in antebellum America compared with slavery in the Ancient Near East. 2. Discussed the causes of slavery and exploitation (a brief exposition of Genesis 2 and 3) 3. Began to look at God’s provisions for the poor under the Old Covenant as a means to prevent any kind of slavery…and finally 4. Began... Read more
Preventing Grace
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