They say that everyone has a book inside them, and fortunately, in most cases, it stays there.
Some of us have more than one.
Archives: chn
Chocolate and chips
Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel
If my kids were given the run of the place and were allowed to set the rules, what would their day look like? Apart from the absence of school, I’m guessing their activities would involve a copious diet of computer gaming, MSN (if you don’t know what this is, ask someone under 20), music downloads, TV, chocolate and chips.
Beware that bandwagon
Couldn't Help Noticing, Sola Panel
I love a bandwagon as much as the next man. There’s a certain satisfaction to be gained from jumping on board the happy caravan as it passes by, to the cheers and back-slapping of your new fellow passengers. And as you join in shouting to the onlookers that they should jump on board too, there’s a delicious feeling of belonging to the righteous brotherhood of the truly aware. (more…)
New year’s resolutions
Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel
It’s that time of year when certain sorts of people flirt with the idea of New Year’s resolutions. I once made such lists. After multiple failures and subsequent guilt, I made a resolution to give up on resolutions.
Reason vs. prejudice
Couldn't Help Noticing, Life
I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a preaching workshop with David Jackman from the London-based Cornhill Training Course. David made some telling points from a survey of apostolic preaching from Acts 17-20, and one in particular struck me.
Bagging the masons
Couldn't Help Noticing, Life
Is this a new trend in religious advertising? A local newsagent has advertising printed on its paper bags—not so unusual in itself (The Sydney Morning Herald has an ad on one side). But surprisingly the Freemasons have now started advertising in this way. Describing their social responsibility, dedication to charity and community, the organization is encouraging people to inquire, presumably about joining. For a group traditionally shrouded in secrecy, this seems a remarkably public recruitment drive. Next we’ll be hearing details of the secret handshake …
How to deal with heretics
Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel
The early church father, Irenaeus, was certainly not afraid to critique error. I was browsing through his Against Heresies the other day (as one does, in the Greek, without a dictionary, shortly before dictating my latest article for The Ivory Tower Review), and I came across the following passage that I felt bound to share. Irenaeus was arguing against the heresy of the Gnostics, who had an incredibly elaborate, and elaborately incredible, account of how the world came to exist. One of Irenaeus’ chief polemical methods was simply to describe in detail what the Gnostics were actually teaching, with only a few minor comments being required to point out how absurd it all is.
Trouble with Tim
Couldn't Help Noticing
Some Briefing readers may have seen some of the Rev. Tim Costello’s recent public criti- cisms of The Briefing and of our publisher Phillip Jensen. I won’t go into the details of Tim’s gripes here, but one aspect might be worth clarifying for our readers. One of Tim’s accusations has been that we denied him any right of reply to the review of his book (that appeared in Briefing #265/6). Just to set the record straight, here’s what happened.