The book of Esther never mentions God. It doesn’t discuss temple services or sanctification or justification. And yet without these biblical ideas providing context, the story will make little sense—or the wrong sense! The teaching of Esther is all the more profound...
Piety
Flavel on the Christian Duty to Observe God’s Providence
My good pastor read this whole chapter from John Flavel's The Mystery of Providence to our congregation last night. I have never heard him read something to lengthy to us; he obviously felt it was important. You'll see why if you click! Flavel knows his Bible. It's...
A Good Verse to Guide Internet Communication
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17 ESV) A high standard that, by God’s great grace, can be met.
It Gets Better
One of my favorite teachers in college (who I think was my wife’s only teacher in college, she took so many of his classes) told a story that I have thought about many times. It seems an older single missionary lady somehow revealed to her superiors that she had...
When I Consider the Heavens
Mind-blowing. HT: Kevin Minnett
A Great Quote from Ken Myers, OR, An Ironic Quote to Put on a Blog, I Suppose, But Hopefully It Will Lead You To Read the Book
"Our frenetic search for novelty is, says Daniel J. Boorstin, one of the signs that we demand 'more than the world can give us.'" (p. 66)
Facebook Psychoses
Some great quotes from an insightful and humorous New York Times article on Facebook and other social media: How is it that activities we wouldn’t in a million years be roped into doing in real life—paging through an acquaintance’s baby album, suffering through a...
New Years Resolutions: Grace or Guilt?
Join the discussion over at Charlie Johnson's blog. Or turn it into a discussion, I guess! I think Charlie raises a great point—but then again, so does the first commenter! =)
The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom
Craig Bartholomew offers some insightful comments on wisdom in Proverbs: There are no areas of life that wisdom does not reflect upon: leadership and royalty, wealth and poverty, economics and law, and justice, marriage, and developing sexuality—they are all here,...
Narnian Nobility
I’m reviewing a great little book that fellow Narnians would, I’m sure, enjoy as much as I do: Doug Wilson’s What I Learned in Narnia. Not all moralizing is bad: Wilson artfully reveals the morals in various pericopes of the Narnia septet. He provides seven chapters...
1Marks Interview Series
Some moons ago, I interviewed Dr. Robert Bell in the first of what I hoped would become a 1Marks Interview Series. It is now officially a series, because Dr. Robert Vincent agreed to sit with me for an hour-long interview (right click link; choose "Save Target As")...
Wise Advice On The Balance Between Submission to Leaders and Personal Responsibility
The church must balance analytical independence (1 Thess. 5:21) with submissiveness to its leaders (1 Thess. 5:13; Heb. 13:7, 17; Gal. 1:8–9). We “obey [our] leaders” and we “test everything.” Yet we test humbly, reticent to question pastors who have been called by...