Finishing this book, for me, was like waking from a long and nerve-wracking but undeniably momentous dream; and in
Two Kingdoms: Living In A Land Not Our Own
NL2K does not mean we retreat from society and let it go to hell, it means that we seek the best for whatever society we find ourselves in, we live at peace with all men inasmuch as it depends on us, we lead quiet lives, and we seek out the welfare of our neighbors.
Happy Thanksgiving From St. Anne's Manor
Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving from all of us here at Torrey Gazette! Eat lots of great food, drink lots of good alcohol, and make merry with the best of ‘em!
Satan Unbound, Christ (Still) Victorious
One side says that if you believe Satan is not bound then you don’t believe in God’s power and you’re just reading the Bible wrong, the other side says that if you believe Satan is bound then you are just blind to the evils of the world and you don’t read the Bible with a “literal” hermeneutic.
Book Review: Biblical Theology: The Common Grace Covenants by Jeffery Niehaus
Niehaus’s Biblical Theology is a joy to read. It is pleasing to the mind (theology) as well as the soul (poetry).
The Bloody Marriage of Military & Sport
Sports, the movies, the mall, the news cycle, etc. all serve in a liturgical manner; they all shape us and form us in certain ways simply by our exposure to them. When Smith speaks of “liturgies” he’s talking about cultural rituals that tend to shape us in ways that we aren’t necessarily aware of. In other words, liturgies don’t ask for permission to shape the way we think and feel about certain things, they just do it.
Remembering Theologically: Augustinian Reflections on Memory
In a culture that is hyper concerned with crafting a presentable self through social media, yet finds itself bankrupt when it comes to truthful self-reflection and understanding, learning to remember well and speak our lives truthfully is a vital practice to be relearned.
Using Biblical Language in Teaching
"Oh, so do you know Greek and Hebrew?"
Spirituality of the Church
The Church is the gathering together of a people who are self-conscious pilgrims awaiting their heavenly home (or, it should be). Our home is an eschatological reality, but it is not entirely future.
Biblical Symbolism, Marriage, & the New Covenant
What is necessary is not the creation of symbols. The symbols (like marriage) are already there. What is necessary is that we have our eyes opened to the Biblical symbolism that pervades our world and that we view the world through that lens rather than the symbol-averse of late-modernity.
Liturgy Series: Part 6 – Confession & Pardon
The disordered desires of a people result not only in individual sins but ultimately take shape in the world we inhabit. Too often we limit the scope of our sin to our personal relationship with God or (a little better) to the ways our sins affect our closest relationships. Now, while sin certain does have a (powerful) affect on those things, Smith points out the cultural and cosmic effects of sin as well.
A Postmillennial Introduction
As the gospel reaches into the cracks of the fallen, depraved and defeated, the firm foundation of Christ’s kingdom is laid. This is postmillennialism.
Collective Heart, Collective Soul
To reduce the gathering of God’s elect to worship the triune God to merely a time of self-help is a great tragedy. When the people of God gather to worship they are doing much more than simply edifying their individual relationships with Jesus.
Strange Providence
Ultimately, we come to learn the ways that God works like we have just been doing here, searching the scriptures. Too often we assume that our current categories of evaluatiion are the ones that God is using. God has revealed to us in His word the ways that he deals with His creation. We should look to saturate our minds with God's word in such a way that we can view the world through Biblical eyes and evaluate the world in wisdom.
Book Review: Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp
Unwrapping the Greatest Gift seems an excellent addition to Advent centered households with children.
St. Anne's Radio Silence
As you may or may not have noticed St. Anne’s Manor went radio silent last week and didn’t publish any blog posts. I felt the need to explain why before I just reassumed a regular blogging schedule this week.
Dressed Christians
There are the seasons with weekly Steelers games and their appropriate jerseys/shirts. There is the much longer hockey season with its multiple games a week when we wear our "hockey shirts!" (Kenzie's phrase of choice). And there are the daily moments of "naked baby" which typically involves some lack of clothing on the part of our children running throughout the house.
Book Review: The Word of the Lord
Guthrie’s obvious joy in studying the prophetic books is an encouragement.
Book Review: ESV Reader's Bible
Crossway’s ESV Reader’s Bible is both stylish and reasonably practical. Neither of these things can be undervalued. The Scripture flows wonderfully with absolutely no extra material. Tack on the common book order and the ESV Reader’s Bible is the most accessible Bible for the average reader.
Torrey Gazette Christmas Giveaway
The Lord has seen fit to bless me and my family this year with many books. Now it is time to give back a little bit. So instead of just one prize for one giveaway, this giveaway will have four winners with a plethora of prizes.