That the glory of the Lord might cover the dry land as the waters cover the sea
Mark 13 is not in the Bible to provoke debates about when all things will be consummated – what Jesus meant by “this generation.” Mark 13 is in the Bible to prepare disciples of Jesus against deception, fear, sleepy inattention, persecution, and uncertainty. In Mark 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt to cries of …
Continue reading “Be on Guard: The Point of Mark 13, with some thoughts on ‘this generation’”
As I read Whittaker Chambers’ Witness, at several points the story drove me to look things up online, where I found a page that links to many of Chambers’ other writings. Somewhere I read Solzhenitsyn say that his writing resulted from his having been thrown headlong into hell and attempting to describe the experience. Chambers’ …
In Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick, a massive white whale named Moby Dick has bitten off Captain Ahab’s leg. In response to this, Ahab commits himself to killing the whale Moby Dick. Captain Ahab bears the name of an idolatrous king of Israel. Captain Ahab refuses to accept what has been done to him by …
Continue reading “Tenants, Traps, Teaching, and the Meaning of Melville’s “Moby Dick””
On Sunday, May 22, 2011, it was our pleasure and privilege to ordain Ross Shannon to gospel ministry. Ross has been serving as the Assistant Pastor for Discipleship and Evangelism at Kenwood, and he just graduated from SBTS and was called to serve at First Baptist Church, Lapeer, MI. I had the honor of preaching …
Continue reading “Shepherd the Flock of God: The Ordination of Ross Shannon”
On Sunday, May 15, it was my privilege to preach Mark 11, “No Fruit on the Fig Tree or in the Temple,” at Kenwood Baptist Church. Jesus is remarkably humble in this so-called triumphal entry. He enters the temple, which essentially belongs to him, and he finds no fruit there. That is, the temple custodians …
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English translations need to revisit the way that the books of the Old Testament are ordered. Let me put it another way: The only basis for the way that English translations order the books of the Old Testament is modern convention. The order we use today seems to have arisen with the printing press. There …
Continue reading “How Should the Books of the OT Be Ordered?”
On Sunday, May 8, 2011, it was my privilege to preach Mark 10:32–52 at Kenwood Baptist Church, “Kingdom Greatness.” An excerpt: What are some characteristics of Christ-like service, servant-greatness, slave-first-placeness? It doesn’t do this to get attention, and in doing it, doesn’t draw attention to itself. The consideration of the interests of others outranks the …
These words on the Crossway blog have me saying Soli Deo Gloria: “I was riveted. Never do I sit down and read sixty pages of ANY book that I get in the mail. But I could not stop—could not stop reading and could not stop rejoicing over God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment. It is …
The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has put together an evaluation of the NIV 2011. The full report is here, and the data that supports the conclusions can be found here. The takeaway: The 2011 NIV is 75% the TNIV in gender language, and it effectively nullifies 1 Tim. 2:12, the most important verse …
For some reason unbeknownst to me, English translations of the Psalms decided not to number the superscriptions of the Psalms. This breaks with other printed practice, since the superscriptions are numbered in printed editions of the Hebrew text as well as the Greek and Latin translations. The verse numbers are not original to the authors …
Continue reading “Do You Preach the Superscriptions of the Psalms?”
“In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers.” From Melville’s Moby Dick, Chapter ix – THE SERMON.
Consider the warning on hell’s gate in Inferno: “Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of Power divine, Supremest Wisdom, and primeval Love. Before me …
How often should a church take the Lord’s supper? Let’s cut straight to the chase: I think the New Testament indicates that the early church took the Lord’s supper every Lord’s day, that is, every Sunday. My key piece of evidence for this is in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when …
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“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26 ESV Since a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church (Eph 5), and since I …
Have you ever looked at a flower? This week we went down to Bernheim Forest, and we saw this Quiet Garden full of Peonies. Have you ever thought about how delicate, transient, gratiuitous, and useless flowers are? God has lavished his creativity, resources, energy, mental ingenuity, and power on these things that serve no other …
And here is the fifth and final Table from God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology that will be posted here. This one lays out the chiastic structure of Revelation. I think this structure is key to understanding the book. My sermons on Revelation are here, my Preaching the Word commentary on the …
Continue reading “The Chiastic Structure of Revelation: Limited Time Offer”
I taught Psalm 38 tonight at Kenwood, and as I prepared I couldn’t help but think of this clip when I read verse 7:
In Psalm 38 the righteous sufferer calls on and hopes in the Lord to deliver him. Note that this Psalmist is righteous not because he is sinless but because he confesses his sin and repents of it. The one in whom the Psalm finds typological fulfillment bears the sins of his people but has none …
Ever wondered how to make an author really, really happy? Call his book terrific, then refer to its distinctives as sparkling! He’ll be smiling with a great smiling. Trust me. If you want to make it even better, say this as one farther along in the faith, from a big platform with a reputation for …
Continue reading “Dan Phillips Reviews “God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment””
I mentioned in an earlier post that in his book, Man and Woman, One in Christ, Philip B. Payne refuses to present the complementarian position in a way that complementarians would represent themselves. This seems to be because Payne has so thoroughly rejected the complementarian position that he feels no need to argue against it …
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