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Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith

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Matthew Anderson’s book Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith has recently been released, and it is well worth picking up. I haven’t finished it yet, but I have really enjoyed what I have read so far, and am looking forward to the whole thing. The body is a much neglected subject in […]

Does it Matter Where You Live? Part 2

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Richard Florida again, in Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life: Finding a place that makes us happy has a powerful effect on our “activation.” Such places encourage people to do more than they otherwise would, such as engage in more creative activities, […]

Does it Matter Where You Live?

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Yes. The ability to work from anywhere can make it seem that it doesn’t matter where you live, since you can connect with anyone and work with anyone wherever you are through technology. But this would actually be a mistaken inference because of what Richard Florida calls “the clustering force.” Here’s what he says in […]

What the Sermon on the Mount Does Not Mean

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Lloyd-Jones, in Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: What, then, are the characteristics of the true Christian? Put positively, it is that he “does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Our Lord says: “Not every one that says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that […]

Holiness is a Promise — Not a Threat

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Mike Horton, in Christ the Lord: As Christ is the answer to our guilt and condemnation (through justification), so he is the answer to our bondage and corruption (sanctification). He takes away not only the verdict, but also the slavery. To justify us in the heavenly court without giving us the gifts that, by virtue […]

The Objective Nature of the Work of Christ

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I love this quote from Mike Horton’s The Gospel-Driven Life: On Good Friday, at about noon, all of those whom God had chosen from every tribe and nation across the millennia of human history became legal beneficiaries of heaven, coheirs with Christ.

The Counterintuitive Nature of the Gospel

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CJ Mahaney, in The Cross Centered Life: Do you see any traces of [a sense of] condemnation in your life? Don’t be surprised if you do. But don’t keep carrying the burden! Because of the gospel’s power you can be completely free of all condemnation. Not mostly free; completely free. Don’t buy the lie that […]

What is Pride? (And What is Humility?)

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I find these definitions from CJ Mahaney’s book Humility very helpful: Humility: Honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. Pride: Aspiring to the state and position of God and refusing to acknowledge our dependence on him.

Christians Should Not be Boring

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In Creed or Chaos?, Dorothy Sayers has a chapter where she points out that most people outside the church would have listed the most important Christian virtues something like this: “respectability; childishness; mental timidity; dullness; sentimentality; censoriousness; and depression of the spirits.” In other words, many thought that Christians were dull, judgmental, and lacking passion. […]