Wannabe Sacred Sandwich 01

The Sacred Sandwich provides hilarious and occasionally insightful descriptions of odd old photographs—what it calls “Dubious Photojournalism.” It cracks me right up.
Believing that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I figured I’d give it a try & see what the readers of MTC can come up with, and my day off is the perfect [...]

A Barbershop Quartet on Congregational Singing

Jonathan Edwards and Bob Bixby belt out a duet on the virtues of congregational singing over here. Great post, Bob. I say if you’re not hoarse on Monday morning, your heart’s probably not right. (Yeah, I know: hoarseness would reveal improper technique. Whatever.) Here are two gems from Maestro Bob, the Unrefined:
“When [...]

Piper Honors His Father, Speaks of His Fundamentalist Heritage

 
John Piper honored his father in this message on June 19, 2005, a message which I took in as part of my preparation for preaching on parental instruction this Sunday. Piper rehearses the spiritual legacy he inherited from his father, who he describes as (a) a graduate of Bob Jones University (from where he received [...]

Cal Thomas On Mother Teresa (Whiff)

This was extremely disappointing.
“Perhaps Mother Teresa’s doubt lasted longer than most, but doubt is not the same as disbelief and in her actions as well as her words, she exhibited more faith than any doubter—or non-doubter—I have known.”
Too much is being made about the sincerity of Mother Teresa’s faith or the amount of it. [...]

Your Family Needs God’s Grace

The message I preached on Psalm 127 (and which led to this discussion regarding the extent of parental influence) in now up on sermonaudio.com. It is part 4 of our current series on parenting, entitled “God’s Word for Your Family.”

Spurgeon On Calvinism and Brainwashing

Spurgeon gave me a good chuckle last week. Shockingly (or not), he did so by taking aim at Arminians. Now, I don’t go looking for these things.  In fact, I was mowing my lawn when I heard this one.  Anyway, here’s Spurgeon commenting again on Calvinism & Arminianism during a sermon on Psalm 127. [...]

Borrowing Brains: Deterministic Parenting and Presbyterians

We’ve had a profitable discussion over here regarding the error of deterministic parenting—the idea that a child will know and follow Christ if only his parents do a good job of raising him. Many of the problems with that teaching are mentioned in that post.
What I wonder is this: if the idea that parents [...]

How Much Influence Do Parents Have?

J. Richard Fugate and Ted Tripp couldn’t differ more regarding the amount of influence parents have in children’s lives. They even use similar words to describe their differing opinions (as indicated by the bold print).
Ted Tripp:

“I have been asked, ‘Don’t you think that if you raise your children in the right way, God [...]

Heaven Can Wait? Remarkable!

I recently read this post from Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile who ministers in the Cayman Islands. It’s a reflection on Paul’s words from Philippians 2:18-26, especially Paul’s statement that he was torn between two alternatives: departing to be with Christ (which is far better) and staying to continue ministering to the Philippian church. I posted the [...]

Maurice Cheeks with a Great Assist

This isn’t new, but it was a neat moment. Mo Cheeks, former All-Star point guard (and current coach) for the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers and former coach of the Portland Trailblazers, showed a ton of class in dishing out an assist to a terrified 13 year old girl in 2003. Natalie Gilbert was singing the National [...]