As we come to this subject, the Evangelical Cause from the Reformation to the Great Awakening, it would be right, firstly, to ask the question, why start with the Reformation and why end with the Great Awakening? Surely, Evangelicals existed before and after such great events. The answer is, of course they did and still do. So why these two as starting point and end? The answer is, because these two events (the Reformation and the Great Awakening) were events of such singular magnitude. There have simply been no other events like them in the history of the Christian Church. Second, why is it necessary to speak about the Evangelical cause? Surely, Evangelicals know who they are and what they believe. It is sad to have to remind ourselves that this is no longer true. Most Christians do not know who they are or what they believe or where they have come from. This was not the case during the Reformation, through the Puritan Age and on to the Great Awakening. The Christians of those times knew precisely who they were and what they believed. The word evangelical has come under scrutiny for good and for bad in recent times. In fact, more than any other time, Evangelicals themselves, do not seem to know what it means to be evangelical. If this is the case, and I am convinced it is, then this is a very important issue. [Read more…]
The Big Cleaver
Genesis 2:24 speaks of leaving & cleaving as a man’s responsibility when he takes a wife to himself. It is interesting to note from the English perspective that the word “cleave” offers two distinct meanings. Both are verbal: one means to adhere to and the second means to divide or split asunder. The Hebrew word “dabaq” signals “to cling to”, “to be joined to” and the Latin “adherebit” confirms this. The second English meaning apples to the “leaving” part – for a man does divide from his father and mother to form a new union. Marriage really is the Big Cleaver and thank God for it.
Spurgeon on War
“Long have I held that war is an enormous crime: Long have I regarded all battles as but murder on a large scale” (from – “India’s Ills and England’s Sorrows,” September 6, 1857, Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens).
Barbaric Cosmology
The idea that morality can be simply derived from natural reason is barbaric to say the least. We could apply the source of morality to anything apart from God, and frankly the idea would still be ultimately barbaric. It is a monumental leap of vain imagination for anyone to consider (as most cosmologists do) that the universe arose from nothing, and that this “nothing” in turn was certain to give rise to something. As Maria sang, “nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could; so somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.” (from Sound of Music). Pathetic theology, to say the least, but she makes a connection. The only way something comes from nothing is if God does it. To think that some random process spontaneously explodes out of nothing is intellectual folly, nevertheless it is indulged in persistently.
Cosmology refers to origins – origins of the universe. Darwin hypothesized about origins. His followers continue the tradition. Uncertainty marks their work. If science is supposed to convince – it has not done a good job here.
Real Pulpit Power
It is not enough to have light & knowledge – We must have the Holy Spirit & his power. We must never settle for less than this, both in our private personal lives, and in the public pulpit.
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