A friend of mine says, “I always thought grace meant you could do stuff.” As in, “It was hard to make it through, but God gave me grace.”
Cheap grace, on the other hand, means you can’t do stuff, but that it’s okay. It also means God can’t do stuff. It means that God can’t really change people, but He pretends that He has, and we call it grace because we don’t want to hurt His feelings.
Continue reading “Expensive grace”
“Christ has taught us that we should not hear a stranger’s voice.”
– Jerome Kels, Martyrs Mirror p. 445
Traditionally my fellow Anabaptists made a clear distinction between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of the Lord. In fact, historians believe the Anabaptists originated the concepts of separation of church and state, and of freedom of religious conscience.
Continue reading “Why I don’t vote”
“What shall I do? the more I cause to be executed, the more they increase.”
– the Burgrave at Altzey, Martyrs Mirror, p. 437
Entertainment comes from the Latin words meaning “to hold between.” Do you really want someone to hold you between? No, you say, it’s not entertainment, it’s recreation. Then when will you be recreated and what will you do when you are? Or is it that God really has a purpose for only part of your time and you need to kill the rest, killing yourself as well? Did God give you too much time to keep your interest without artificial assistance? Do you want him to give you less time? Are you afraid that if you decide to serve him with your whole life, he won’t allow you enough rest to keep healthy and happy? Do you believe you need to steal breaks from him, as from an unreasonable boss who expects you to keep going until you collapse?
“Do you then take such pains to seek souls? Well then, go into the city, to every place, to the drunkards, whoremongers, swearers… these are still your brethren; go and seek their souls; Christ has found mine.”
– Hans van Overdam, Martyrs Mirror p. 486-494
“You’d be bored to tears in heaven, if you’re not ecstatic about God now.”
– Keith Green
“I never in all my life was in a holy church.”
– Fije and Eelken, Martyrs Mirror p. 484-485
The professions of teaching and social work are respectable, but not because they can do a better job than parents. Like a dishwasher, they are useful as ways to automate parenting. An automatic dishwasher usually does an inferior job, but it works when a human dishwasher isn’t available. In the same way, no classroom, however well-equipped, can approach the student/teacher ratio, professional dedication or understanding of the students that a committed homeschooling parent can. Public schools stay in business because, like orphanages, they can do their work even without parents if necessary.
“Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a lion. Just
turn the Bible loose. It will defend itself.”
— Charles H. Spurgeon