By allowing the Gospel of Matthew to tell the story it wants to tell (rather than telling the story of a doctrine) Leithart brings out
shadowlands
I've discovered that travel only "sinks in" for me if I am going with, to, or returning home to, people I love. This rules out a lot of the "finding yourself" travel-related nonsense a more whimsical version of myself might still be tempted to go looking for.
No Day But Today
So, then, let us love like our God who is and has defined love.
Joyfulness
My children take great joy in the smallest things. And I enjoy their joy. Christian obedience is something like this. God, through His Spirit, works in us the smallest of obedience. This becomes the smallest of pleasures. And it pleases Him.
John Calvin and the Civil Magistrate (Part 5)
Get our troops off of foreign soil and return to a true Christian magistrate.
The Great Commission
Once you begin to understand the ways in which the Bible refers to itself, you begin to peel back layers to passages that before were seemingly shrouded in mystery and hid their glory from you.
Objections to Holy Deception
It should not be surprising that a slew of posts on "why it is okay to lie" might receive some push back. It is time for me to address a couple of objections that went untouched in my posts.
jameson & carol
A crowd of migrant workers, waiting to be picked up by anyone, stepped closer to the car. He waved them off solemnly. When he asked me if I had a facebook, I said no.
Personhood & Abortion
In the end, it should not matter whether the fetus is human life or not. Humans are to view the world through the understanding that they are in dynamic relationship to everything around them.
Defying Evil Through Deception
This is not merely God using poor circumstances. This is God reversing a false judgment set forth by humanity. This is God overturning the false righteousness of the world.
Joy Abides
Joy is no slave. Joy stands outside of that list, for it is hidden in what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. Joy abides. Joy looks at the ebb and flow of life and says, “But God.”
Deception in Genesis
Joseph is actually a pre-fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. The whole world is blessed through him. Genesis 41:57 says "all the earth" came to him for bread <cough> and wine <cough>.
Commands Vs. Relationships
We must focus on God's revelation as the center of sin. With this underneath us, we can look at sin as relational not merely ontological.
Reading & Laying Down Your Life
C.S. Lewis makes an argument that “good reading” consists in laying down one’s own point of view. This, Lewis explains, is a type of “dying,” but in this dying, we find that we truly become ourselves as we escape ourselves.
missional mulch
I'm grateful to have gotten to know this bunch of folks a lot better - the kind of bonding that occurs when you all look and smell disgusting. It was a treat to see how much you can get done when people work well together, and work hard. My farmer's tan is now several shades darker, even if I never did get a photo-op with a small dark child to post on my Facebook so that everyone would know I did a missions trip.
An Anti-War Gem from "Gone With the Wind"
Especially in today’s climate where we seem to be increasingly okay with war, Rhett Butler’s words are music to the ears. It always strikes me as odd that those who are so adamant about being duped by the government never stop to think that the government could be duping them when it comes to war. If you listen to the rhetoric about Israel then it is so clear the way that we attempt to make war sacred in our own day as well.
A Healthy Understanding of Sin
A healthy understanding of sin recognizes it's dominion over everything that does not belong to Christ. Among those who belong to Christ sin no longer has dominion. It has been put to shame. It has been mocked and ridiculed on the stage of redemptive history. Sanctification lives in this reality.
Man's Holy Deception
Studying Rahab, Jael and Solomon certainly seem to indicate a positive Scriptural response to deception to preserve life and administer proper justice.
John Calvin and the Civil Magistrate (Part 4)
Molech is alive and well at any Planned Parenthood. Asherah poles are regularly called TVs now. Under the guise of
How to Know You've Been Called To Ministry
As American