Of Man and Animals by Pastor Dan Miller

In response to my Pet Cult blurb last week, a friend of mine sent me an article by Dan Miller, pastor of Eden Baptist Church, on this oft-neglected subject. While attending CBTS for my M.Div., Dan Miller was teaching the main church history courses. I highly recommend his sermons, the two most current of which [...]

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Christ, the Life of all the Living

Written by Ernst Christoph Homburg (1605-81)
Translated by Catherine Winkworth (1829-78)
JESU, MEINES LEBENS LEBEN 8.7.8.7.7.7.7.7
Christ, the Life of all the living,
Christ the Death of death, our foe,
Who Thyself for us once giving
To the darkest depths of woe,
Patiently didst yield Thy breath
But to save my soul from death;
Praise and glory ever be,
Blessèd Jesus, unto Thee.
Thou, O [...]

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Pro-life ethical question posed to a caller on NPR

I just caught the end of today’s NPR’s Talk of the Nation: Science Friday. The panelists were discussing stem-cell research, and this philosophical dilemma was posed to the lay-man caller by one of the scientists:
If there was a fire in a fertility clinic, and you had the choice to save either a six year old [...]

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Dissatisfied with today’s post?

A pretty nifty feature that WordPress just sent down the pike is the code for a random post generator.
So if you’re not satisfied with today’s (or yesterday’s*–or tomorrow’s) post, merely click, and a random one from the year and a half (that’s 450 … make that 451 … posts!) of Immoderate archives will come up.
To [...]

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When the peace of forgiveness is counterfeit

John Owen notes in Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers that God will speak the peace of forgiveness to the soul when sin is confessed, but he warns us not to speak to ourselves before God does. This raises the question of how we know if the peace we experience is of God or [...]

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Semi-weekly pithiness

“Canst thou look without terror into the abyss of eternity? Thou canst not bear the rays of his glorious being.”
- John Owen (Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers) for April 25, 2007

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More evidence of the Pet Cult

This is unbelievable. I think evangelicals should start preaching against this inordinate (and growing increasingly so) affection for pets.
Drugmakers See Booming Market in Treating Pets

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The response of man to an everlasting God

When confronted with the truth that God is everlasting, what is our response? Moses begins Psalm 90 with this declaration:
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God is not just our [...]

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My song is love unknown

 Samuel Crossman wrote this hymn in 1664, and I am quite fond of two different tunes typically used for this hymn: John D. Edwards’ RHOSYMERE (1840) and John Ireland’s more recent LOVE UNKNOWN (1918).
My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for [...]

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If you avoid sin because of its consequences, you are under Law

Yes, if you are avoiding wrath or pornography simply because you are worried of your standing before men or even God being caught therein, hear the words of John Owen in the 9th chapter of his Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (this is good!):
When a man fighteth against his sin only with arguments [...]

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Dagg on Christian unity

In the second part of his Manual of Theology, John L. Dagg replies to this objection to independent churches and “the democratic form of church government,” and discusses the nature of Christian unity:
Objection 3.–The independent churches have no bond of union and strength; and no means of preventing division.
Love is the bond of perfectness, which [...]

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“No better name than tricks”: Hiscox on sermon preparation

Baptist theologian Edward Hiscox writes the following concerning sermon preparation and devices in his Manual:
The pulpit will constitute the stronghold of his power on his congregation and the community. For though a pastor, he must still be a preacher, a Gospel herald to his flock. The minister is, perhaps, first of all, a teacher. Therefore [...]

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He is Risen

by Cecil F. Alexander (1823-1895), altered. Sung to UNSER HERRSCHER by Joachim Neander.
“He is risen! He is risen!”
Tell it out with joyful voice:
He has burst His three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice:
Death is conquered, we are free,
Christ has won the victory.
Come, ye sad and fearful hearted,
With glad smile and radiant brow!
Death’s long shadows [...]

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John Owen the Sarcastic: his “Socinian Catechism”

As noted in an earlier post, the Socinians were one of John Owen’s chief opponents. In his work against them, Vindiciae Evangelicae, he put together a mock “Socinian Catechism.” Here are some highlights:
Ques. 1. What is God?
Ans. God is a spirit, that hath a bodily shape, eyes, ears, hands, feet, like to us.
Q. 2. Where [...]

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