Stop faffing and get over it

Here is another vivid illustration of a pagan speaking the truth in love


Oh it’s such a drag, what a chore
Oh your wounds are full of salt.
Everything’s a stress and what’s more
Well, it’s all somebody’s fault.


- OK go

Beyond Sola Scriptura and loving poetry

In his new book, Remythologizing Theology, Kevin VanHoozer contends that "Biblical reasoners do well to appreciate the subtlety and depth of the divine rhetoric" which I think is him saying, that Christians are not merely supposed to attend to the very words of Scripture but also to manner in which Almighty God presents it. Put differently we are not simply to think about the words that God uses to reveal Himself, but we are also to consider the various forms He deploys to communicate His-story. Speaking theologically for a moment it is not just the words and individual lines that are inerrant but so too are the Genres - the form and the content matter. Given the poetic nature of much Scripture, isn't this a most erudite justification for loving poetry?

Friday Fun: Margaret Thatcher joke

I'm hoping to see the new Margaret Thatcher film featuring stellar actress, Meryl Streep soon. Among the things which I hope the film portrays, is the reputed mother-knows-best attitude famed of the Iron Lady. It's neatly summed up in a joke where Thatcher and her cabinet go to dinner at a swish London restaurant. The maitre d' asks Mrs Thatcher what she would like. A steak she says. Thick. Rare. And the vegetables, madame? They'll have whatever I have, says the PM.

A logic FAIL BIG time/Thank you Oak Hill

Over at Richard Wiseman's blog, there is an interesting discussion on whether it would be right or not to let women and children go first if you were one of those on the Costa Concordia when it capsized. There have been some abominable answers along the lines of: yes children should go first but not women BECAUSE women and men are equal! Where oh where does one begin? If one says that men and women and equal but doesn't  include children, does this therefore constitute an admission that children and adults are not equal? And if yes (which in some respects they are not) does this then not make us aware that the issue of equality requires further clarification i.e. equal how/in what respect? This is one of those many moments, when I'm incredibly thankful to God for the training I received at Theological college. Thank you very much Oak Hill.

How often, Communion?

The Lord's Table should be regular, observed whenever God's people assemble together as summoned. We are the family of God, and part of this is demonstrated in the fact that we eat together. As I understand the Scriptures, this means weekly communion. Second, the Lord's Table is a feast, not a fast, and is a time for rejoicing and celebration, not a time for afflicting our souls. It is eucharist, thanksgiving. Third, it should be observed with wine that has alcohol in it and bread that has gluten in it. No Christians should avoid those elements on the authority of their own choices or preferences.

Via a great post on food which can be read in full here

How not to teach God's Sovereignty

Via: ASBO Jesus (pastors especially should read the comments section at ASBO Jesus to see how damaging this sort of thing is + to garner the kind of helpful things one could say when chatting to those who are grieving)

Advice on impromptu speaking

“It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” — Mark Twain

“If you want me to talk for ten minutes, I’ll come next week. If you want me to talk for an hour I’ll come tonight.” — Woodrow Wilson

Harold Macmillan: “What are you doing, prime minister?”

Winston Churchill: “Rehearsing my impromptu witticisms.”

NOT, preach the gospel always, use words if necessary BUT...

Preach the gospel always and since it is necessary, use words!

Over time, women are like wine while men are like milk!

One of many witty insights you'll hear in the interview below...

Doug Wilson Interviews Mark Driscoll (Part 1) | Men & Masculinity from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

God's law = real freedom

“The condition of a fish’s life, its environment, is water; take a fish out of water, and it dies. The condition of a tree’s life, its health and its environment, is the soil; uproot a tree, and you kill it. It is no act of liberation to take a fish out of water, or a tree out of the ground. Similarly, the condition of a man’s life, the ground of man’s moral, spiritual, and physical health, is the law of God. To take men and societies out of the world of God’s law is to sentence them to a decline, fall, and death. Instead of liberation, it is execution. Man’s liberty is under God’s law, and God’s law is the life-giving air of man and society, the basic condition of their existence.”

Rousas Rushdoony, Law and Liberty

If you're single and male, 27 is the limit!

In a parley with Mark Driscoll, Doug Wilson advises young men that "if you're single, male and 27, find out her name and ask her."

Ooops! So I blew that one then but, I suppose better late than never