January 2007 Archives

Follwing up on yesterday's blog and one one I posted a week or so ago, I would want to make the case that the problem with so many postmodern approaches to the world is that they fail to grasp the... continue

I hate to break up the hilarity in which my good friends Messrs Trotter and Plectrum-Smith seem to be indulging, but I just spent a few moments looking at the webpage of a leading Emergent figure.... continue

Matthew Bryant (Director of Church Relations) and our friend Niel Nielson (President) of Covenant College have just announced that the Rev. Aaron Messner has accepted its offer to become College Chaplain. Aaron will officially join Covenant on June 1, 2007.  ... continue

By popular demand I append more wisdom from every TR’s favourite spiritual mentor, Nicholas `Don’t call me Nicky!’ Mauss, the big pastor of that even bigger church in Montana. Such is the depth of his wisdom that, in a recent... continue

Stunning news in an artilce in January's Reformed Man Today (RMT) magazine, pasted below:... continue

This is the second installment in a series of occasional selections from Dave Shiflett's Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity.  To prove his thesis, Mr. Shiflett must first prove that Americans are, in fact, fleeing liberal churches,... continue

If scoring is the criterion, then basketball is semi-Pelagian, at best.  For a truly Pelagian sport, one would have to consider the quintessentially English sport of cricket, which is much higher scoring than basketball, and where even the bowlers can manage... continue

I found myself in the invidious position of having to issue a clarification and apology for a theological analysis of an American "sport" (sic):... continue

One of the most important questions we ask prospective pastoral interns at Tenth Church is: "How do people grow spiritually?"  The answer quickly reveals whether or not candidates are grace-oriented in their discipleship and also how well they understand the role... continue

Yesterday my father (Leland Ryken, Professor of English, Wheaton College) sent me a thought-provoking exchange from John Steinbeck's East of Eden:"If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen. And I here make a rule--a great and... continue