Half the church was there. It’s not a large church. About three hundred souls in total. But they were there. Truly there. Fully there. There for her. She lay in bed, above them, directly in the path of hymns and spiritual songs wafting to heaven, to God’s ears. To hers through a small opening in… Read more »
Posted by Eric Owens
I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t directly say. It does, of course, say that women are not to teach or rule in the church (I Timothy 2:12). For this reason the evangelical church has always held that women are not to be ordained as elders in the church for elder is an office of rule…. Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
There are, in the end, essentially only two forms of ethics. One approach is pragmatic, the other principled. Pragmatism on its own, of course, is always incomplete. That is to say, we can’t answer the question of what works until we know what it works for. Ethics, for instance, in Soviet Russia affirmed that the… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
The use of incense by God’s people goes at least as far back as the sacrificial system established by God for the nation ofIsrael. The incense symbolized the sweet aroma of the prayers of God’s people rising up into heaven, which prayers were a delight to God. This same practice and symbolism was a part… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
As I noted in another piece here , different literary forms tend to carry with them different lag times in terms of response. Just a few months ago my latest book was released, but released over a year after I started work on it. Moments ago I finished a column that will not appear in… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
Too many conversations are far too predictable. Praise the sovereignty of God in salvation and someone will inevitably remind you that God didn’t make robots. You will then remind said friend that dead people are passive people, only to be reminded that God is not willing that any should perish. Warn against the dangers of… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
God is indeed principally concerned about where our hearts are. The woman at the well (John 4: 1-15) was concerned about the proper location for worshipping God, while Jesus was more concerned about the proper mind and heart, that we would worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus reiterated this same truth when He spoke… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
What an excellent question. There are those who would suggest that the Bible doesn’t give us a model at all, and we are therefore free to do whatever we please. Happily your question, and the Bible, leaves no room for that option. So let’s consider the other two. On the opposite side of the spectrum… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
The only thing that matters is that it have two sleeves, because every pastor must have two hands. Which is a rather long winded way of saying, as is my wont, on the one hand yes, and on the other hand, no. First to the no. The Bible gives no clear directive in either direction…. Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
One of the surest signs of our broader culture’s departure from its solidly Reformed roots is that even outside the church we raise our children with an “Arminian” perspective. That is, we are ever so zealous not to direct our children this way or that, wanting only to allow them to choose. We have embraced… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
Too many conversations are far too predictable. Praise the sovereignty of God in salvation and someone will inevitably remind you that God didn’t make robots. You will then remind said friend that dead people are passive people, only to be reminded that God is not willing that any should perish. Warn against the dangers of… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
Is it true that the outward trappings of our worship and our lives matter not at all? Isn’t God concerned only with our hearts? God is indeed principally concerned about where our hearts are. The woman at the well (John 4: 1-15) was concerned about the proper location for worshipping God, while Jesus was more concerned… Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
The Regulative Principle of Worship is simple enough. It affirms that Christians ought only to incorporate into their worship those things that God has expressly commanded. The locus classicus for this perspective is Leviticus 10, where Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Levi are struck dead by God for offering “strange fire” before the Lord…. Read more »
Posted by Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr.
