This morning I received an email from Airbnb on their new Church Covenant, er, “community commitment.” As I have settled convictions against their statement of faith and cannot live by their church covenant, I am happy to resign my membership in their church. I do so with the following open letter: Dear Airbnb, Your new […]
Category Archives: Marriage
Intended Allegory in the Song of Songs?
For a number of years now learned interpreters of Scripture have been telling us that the Song of Songs is (primarily) about human love. I put the word primarily in parentheses in that last sentence for a reason. I had grown so accustomed to the emphasis on human love in the Song that I had […]
The Best Sermon I’ve Ever Heard on Marriage
Denny Burk preached the best sermon I’ve ever heard on marriage at Kenwood Baptist Church this morning. It was prophetic, powerful, piercing, and poetic. Denny’s introduction was prophetic: We all found out last month what the President of the United States thinks about marriage. He sat down for an interview with ABC News and announced […]
What Is Marriage?
You shouldn’t even bother reading the excerpts I’m pasting below, just click this: Marriage and the Presidency, by Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George, and Sherif Girgis and read the whole thing. Here are the excerpts: The Historic View Marriage as a comprehensive union: Joining spouses in body as well as mind, it is begun by commitment […]
A Biblical Theology of Gender in Chicago
If you’re in the Chicago-land area I’d love to see you on February 25, 2012 at the Iron Sharpens Iron conference. Kenny Luck and Voddie Baucham are the keynote speakers, and I’ll be doing a seminar on “A Biblical Theology of Gender.” Details on this page. May God help us to man-up and be Christlike.
What Higher Priv’lege Could I Have?
What higher priv’lege could I have, Than loving you as Christ the church? A nobler charge I could not ask, So far beyond my just deserts. Is there a greater task than this: To nourish you as one with me? No tale in life more epic is, No song more challenging to sing. How could […]
She Wields Her Weapons Too
I got to see the battle-front, She stayed to fight at home. The enemy I saw at work, She didn’t get to roam. I smelt the smoke and saw the flames, She took care of our kids. The fray I joined with the s-word of God, Some more homeschool she did. I got to see […]
Jeremiah 2:1–3:5, Will You Drink Sludge or Living Water?
Imagine a wedding, with the bride standing at the doors in the back about to enter the worship hall for the ceremony. She’s dressed in her gown, and her friend Jerry is standing by one of the doors, ready to fling it open when the moment comes. Just at that moment a well dressed older […]
Revelation 19:1–10, The Harlot and the Bride
It was my privilege to preach about the downfall of the harlot Babylon and the readiness of the bride for which Christ died, the bride invited to the wedding feast like no other, on June 19, 2011 at Randolph Street Baptist Church in Charleston, WV: Revelation 19:1–10, The Harlot and the Bride This sermon has […]
CBMW’s Assessment of the NIV 2011
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 […]
Defining Marriage
Robert P. George, Sherif Girgis, and Ryan T. Anderson move toward a profound definition of marriage in their article, “The Argument Against Gay Marriage: And Why It Doesn’t Fail.” Choice quotations: “In making our case for conjugal marriage, we consider the nature of human embodiedness; how this makes comprehensive interpersonal union sealed in conjugal acts […]
Thinking Clearly about Marriage
Robert P. George, Sherif Girgis, and Ryan T. Anderson expose sloppy thinking in their article, “The Argument Against Gay Marriage: And Why It Doesn’t Fail.” Some highlights: “Professor Yoshino’s response is long on rhetoric designed to stigmatize a position he opposes, and short on arguments that might actually cast doubt on its soundness.” . . […]
“The Mystery of Marriage” from For the Fame of God’s Name
Praise God for marriage! What gift can be compared to this one? Who but God could have come up with something so good? Crossway has kindly granted permission for me to post my essay from the Piper Festschrift: James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Mystery of Marriage,” pages 253-71 in For the Fame of God’s Name: […]
About This Time Thirteen Years Ago
It is 11am, September 17, 2010. About this time thirteen years ago, September 17, 1997, I was sitting in the dining hall on the campus of Dallas Theological Seminary, having lunch with my good friend Denny Burk. Up walked a young lady who began to converse with Denny, and my life was changed forever for […]
Happy Birthday, Sweet Wife!
God’s best gift to me (excepting salvation) was born on this day. What a gift! Mere words could never communicate my gratitude and joy at being married to this woman. Thanks be to God, and thanks be to Jillian Ashley Hamilton for marrying me. Hallelujah! On this day I think of the little book put […]
The Latest Issue of JBMW
The latest issue of JBMW has appeared. Tom Schreiner has an important review of Philip Barton Payne’s new book, and a sermon that I preached a few years ago at Northwestern College (Minneapolis, MN) in their Chapel has been published. Every item in the table of the contents looks like an interesting read: Denny Burk Editorial […]
The State of the American Woman
The folks at CBMW sat down with Denny Burk and me to talk about the Time cover story. You can see the first installment here, or watch the whole conversation here.
Do Government Handouts Breed Immorality?
The question in the title of this post is not based on a large sample of data. It is only based on two recent conversations I have had with people receiving government handouts. In both cases, I was speaking with unmarried people. In both cases these unmarried people were living with a person of the […]
Denny’s Prayer for Us
Today my sweet Jill and I celebrate our tenth anniversary. These have undoubtedly been the best ten years of my life. Folded up in my wallet, I carry around with me the little piece of paper on which my dear friend Denny Burk had written out the prayer he prayed for us during our wedding. […]
Denton Bible Holding the Line
I am glad to see that Denton Bible Church is standing strong on the complementarian point of view by hosting an important series of messages on Women in Ministry. If you’re in the Dallas area, I would encourage you to attend the events described below in the letter from Tom Nelson of Denton Bible. May […]