One might think that idolatry would be an easy sin to identify. Do you have any little statues (or big ones I guess) you pray to or worship or pour out libations too (like Jobu in Major League). No. Good, then you are not an idolator. But I think idolatry is notoriously difficult to pinpoint. … Continue reading Idolatry of State [America]
Heidelberg
Baptism and Mother Kirk
I've written four posts now on the church, making the case that the visible church is far more important to the Christian's life, even their salvation, than most evangelicals assume. But who is in the visible church? Those who go through a membership class? Those who attend on Sunday? What serves to connect someone to … Continue reading Baptism and Mother Kirk
Baptism, The Church, & Apostasy
Here begins a series on baptism, it's function in the church, and apostasy. Don't see the correlation? Stick with me, I think you will. All of this is flowing out of my study on the believers union with Christ (which has been faith changing!), a study I've been doing amidst increasing conviction that us evangelicals lack a … Continue reading Baptism, The Church, & Apostasy
Mother Kirk, Part 1
Really, what is the church?If you take your cues from the contemporary evangelical world, it's a voluntary society - like the Kiwanis or Rotary club, like the Gideons or YMCA. Apparently we've learned our ecclessiology from John Locke. Locke wrote, "A church, then, I take to be a voluntary society of men, joining themselves together … Continue reading Mother Kirk, Part 1
Catechism #86-87
Question #86: We have been delivered from our misery by God's grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? Answer: To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be … Continue reading Catechism #86-87