I fell for it. It eventually gets difficult to buy gifts for older people. After all, they have almost everything they need—in fact, usually more than they need. So, for my 86-year-old mother, we have been buying tickets to the symphony or other such concerts as Christmas and birthday presents. But even with classical forms…
In our FrontLine Interviews series, we turn to an article from our “The God of Beauty” edition of FL to an article by Doug Bachorik, chairman of the music department at Maranatha Baptist University. His contribution speaks to the beauty of music in our worship services, but points out that it isn’t beauty for beauty’s…
James 4 begins by addressing the manifest problem of quarreling and fighting. James pinpoints the source of such a problem. Then he reveals the solution to that problem. The Source of the Problem: Worldly Passions (James 4:1–4) What are passions? And what makes them worldly? Passions are fleshly desires or lusts (desires misdirected). According to…
The concept of love in our modern American society is so very distorted from the truth. It ranges somewhere between the Hollywood version that is nothing more than fleshly lust to the smarmy Kodak version of love we see in television commercials, e.g., a man and a woman walking their dog on the beach in…
“Women and children first” expresses a code of conduct prioritizing the protection of women and children in a life-threatening circumstance. It is primarily associated with the sinking of a ship when space in lifeboats is limited. When a British troop ship, the HMS Birkenhead, sank in 1852, this code was famously employed. From that incident…
FRONTLINE Volume 34 • Number 1 Many contemporary Christians propose that redeeming the culture is an important part of what Christ calls them to do. The authors of the following articles will examine that proposal. At the outset, a few observations are in order. First, no such thing as “culture” exists in the abstract. You…
On February 13, 2023, Matthew Loftus at mereorthdoxy.com published an article entitled You can’t Reclaim the Culture by Having More Kids. This has been a sort of mantra of the home school movement for the last 25 years or so. After all, Islam is taking Europe through immigration and population growth in the same way,…
This section addresses and expands upon James’ third example (James 1:27) of what it means to be a doer of the Word (James 1:22)—keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 4:1–12 brings to a climax the heart of the problem (worldliness rooted in lusts) and the ultimate solution (humble repentance). This section can be outlined…
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1) I am sure we all have seen some beautiful places on this earth. Places that emphasize God’s glory even more than the rest of creation. Living in “almost heaven,” I see them every day! But before I begin describing another…
Our post today points you to our Substack where we host the Proclaim & Defend podcast. As you may already know, we use the podcast to promote our magazine, FrontLine. We think the content is consistently good and well worth your reading. At the podcast, we try to interview as many of the authors of…