John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
February 26, 2009
Today marks the anniversary of the death John “Rabbi” Duncan (1796-February 26, 1870), Scottish Presbyterian missionary to the Jews in Budapest and much-loved professor in New College, Edinburgh. He was known for his pithy sayings, as well as his knowledge of Hebrew and his Christian love for the Jews. His deep love for the Jewish people and his eminence as a Hebrew scholar earned the nickname ‘Rabbi’ among his students.
It’s hard to read any Reformed writer of the late 19th or 20th century without finding Duncan quoted. The Banner of Truth published a nice short paperback compendium of Duncan’s aphorisms about a decade or so ago called Just a Talker: Saying of John (“Rabbi”) Duncan. Among his sayings:
“I’m first a Christian, next a catholic, then a Calvinist, fourth an evangelical, and fifth a Presbyterian. I cannot reverse this order.”
“Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He was Himself deluded and self-deceived, or He was Divine. There is no getting out of this trilemma. It is inexorable.”
Thanks to the excellent blog, Scriptorium Daily, here are more samples of Duncan’s skill:
On Thomas Carlyle: Sham is a word often in the mouth of one who is a keen detector of other people’s shams, and a very earnest maker of his own.”
On Wesley’s Hymns: “I have a great liking for many of Wesley’s Hymns; but when I read some of them, I ask, ‘What’s become of your Free-will now, friend?’”
On Genius: “Genius lies very much in that region where the profound is simple, and the simple profound. The great thoughts of such men as Chalmers are very simple when expressed; but only a man of genius could think them.”
On Mysteries: “All the great mysteries are simple as well as unfathomably deep; and they are common to all men. Every Christian feels them less or more.”
Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism: “Hyper-Calvinism is all house and no door; Arminianism is all door and no house.”
Aesthetic Religion: “There is no entering into the kingdom of heaven by a mere sense of beauty.”
Terminology: “There is a curious connexion between the success of a teacher and his possession of a fine terminology –a good store of words to express shades of meaning. Much wisdom has been stored up in men, and never diffused for want of the gift of speech.”
Reason in God: “Transcendentally, it is true that God has reason, but He does not reason; He does not draw syllogisms.”
Love: “Individual love, per se, is a centrifugal force; universal, cosmopolitan love, per se, is centripetal: combine them, and the revolutions of love are orderly.”
How and What: “All questions as to the ‘How’ are best answered by a more extended knowledge of the ‘What.’”
Old and New Covenants: “We must not unsaint the Old Testament saints, but we must not make Pentecostal Christians of them.”
Trinity: “The Trinity is my highest Theologoumenon. I reach it, and find in it the supreme harmony of revealed things. But it is equally irrational and irreverent to speculate on the nexus between the distinct Persons. That is not revealed, and is not revealable.”
More on the Trinity: “I exceedingly dislike that expression of some divines, that Christ purchased for us the blessings of the Spirit. I cannot but believe that the three things –the Father’s love, the sacrifice of the Son, and the influence of the Spirit– are each and all the unpurchasable blessings of grace. And I am driven to this, to hold my ground against the Socinians.”
Fighting Theologians: “Now, every unrenewed Arminian is a Pelagian, and every unrenewed Calvinist is a fatalist.”
Old Brazey: “Hezekiah broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made, because the children of Israel had made an idol of it; and he called it ‘Nehushtan’ –literally ‘Old Brazey.’ … There was no harm in keeping the brazen serpent; bu when they began to turn it to idolatry, it was proper to break it in pieces. ‘What! will you break in pieces a relic connected with our history –a historic memorial?’ ‘Yes, I’ll break it in pieces,’ and he called it ‘Old Brazey.’””
On the communion of saints: “Does no news go between earth and heaven? and if news goes, must there not be knowledge of events? God has put there a veil; Popery tries to bring us within it, and Protestants will not look at it for Papistical abuse.”
The cure of soles
February 25, 2009
Have you been looking for shoe inserts with Bible verses on them so you can “stand on the Word of God”? Have you ever wished that you could have biblical words on your ankles so you could “witness while you walk”? Thanks to the marvels of this popular world-wide-web contraption and the perennial demand for Christian Stuckey’s-style junk, you can have both! And you can have them customized with the name of your church, organization, or enemy. Just in case you thought this was just a the peddling of consumeristic junk, the merchandise is actually part of a discipleship program that you can order as well. You can find it all at www.in-souls.com.
And I say unto you in the words of Daffy Duck, “Shoot me now! Shoot me now! I demand that you shoot me now!” 
Sweet counsel 02.24.09
February 24, 2009
REVISIT
The Genesis 22 passage is hard to handle, almost too horrifying for us to imagine. On Monday morning after preaching it I read again Eugene Peterson’s chapter the Mt. Moriah incident in his book The Jesus Way. He asks some penetrating questions about faith as we see it exercised in Abraham’s life:
What did [the New Testament writers] see in Abraham that they named faith? Was it not this lifetime of internalizing the commanding and promising but invisible God and then stepping out on the road in obedience? Was it not this readiness to leave wherever he was and leave whatever he had in order to embrace the vision, the covenant, the command? Was it not a life of responsive openness to God and a matching indifference to whatever conditions he found himself in? Was it not a lifetime disposition to receive God rather than to satisfy himself?
REMIND
First Wednesdays: Remember that the first Wednesday of each month there is a Women’s Bible Study, led by Maureen Boswell, on Tim Keller’s book The Prodigal God. The turnout has been great for that excellent study. While the women are studying together, I will lead a Men’s Forum, in which we will seek greater biblical perspective on the current financial crisis through teaching and discussion.
RUMINATE
Many people are afraid to talk about death. Some of our older, mature saints speak frankly and biblically about dying, and when they do, I can see the uneasiness in the faces of others. It has not always been this way. In the late 16th century Lewis Bayly gave marvelous advice and suggested prayers for ministering to those who were at death’s door in his popular book The Practice of Piety. In 1616 English Puritan pastor William Perkins wrote The Right Manner of Dying Well. Now think about the 19th century. In the Victorian era there were certainly excesses and obsessions about death–graphic and over-written and sanitized accounts of deathbed scenes, not to mention that this was the era that gave us embalming as we know it today. The Victorians were quite comfortable with talking about death, but deathly afraid of talking about sex.
Today, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. In our day we talk openly and frankly and incessantly about sex, but we try our hardest both to hide death and to hide from death. Not talking about death does not delay it one moment, however. We must deal with it. We ought to be prepared–prepared through trust in Christ and seeking all the assurance that he imparts, together with “numbering our days” that we may gain a heart of wisdom, as Moses teaches us to pray in Psalm 90.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching Genesis 23, in which Sarah dies and Abraham purchases a grave site for her–the first portion of Canaan that Abraham can truly call his. Among the hymns we’ll sing are The God of Abraham Praise and I Know Whom I Have Believed.
Evening Worship: I’ll bring the fourth message in the series The Unveiling: the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We’ll observe how the Church is unveiled for us in Revelation 2-3 in all its wondrous mystery and all its mess. We’ll celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in the service.
Sound of sickness
February 18, 2009
Influenza is here in Attala County. Strep throat was here for an extended visit. A couple of weeks ago my two youngest children had pneumonia. Miss Judy and I have just shaken loose of a fortnight-long head cold. As tribute to it all, here is a link to Garrison Keillor’s parody of the Simon and Garfunkel classic. Be sure to click on the “listen” link.
Pilgrim’s Progress anniversary
February 18, 2009
On this day in 1678 John Bunyan published the first edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Next to the Bible, Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim’s Progress is the best-selling Christian book of all time. It has never been out of print. In a decade when the fantasy genre has gained popularity in a “hip-to-be-square” kind of way in Christian circles, Bunyan’s work certainly deserves an honored place (if not a higher place) alongside the work of Tolkein and Lewis. J.I. Packer wrote in a conclusion to an analysis of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress,
When I ask my classes of young and youngish evangelicals, as I often do, who has read Pilgrim’s Progress, not a quarter of the hands go up. Yet our rapport with fantasy writing, plus our lack of grip on the searching, humbling, edifying truths about spiritual life that the Puritans understood so well, surely mean that the time is right for us to dust off Pilgrim’s Progress and start reading it again. Certainly it would be great gain for modern Christians if Bunyan’s masterpiece came back into its own in our day.
I did not read until compelled to do so in a Restoration Literature class in college. I was then devouring most any Reformed work I could get my hands on. During the 1990′s I read it nearly every year and have read through it again every two or three years during this decade. The book never loses its charms or its convicting power. Someone told me that Charles Spurgeon said that when he was tired and depressed to the point of utter exhaustion, Pilgrim’s Progress was the only book he could stand to have read to him. As the years go by, I am beginning to agree.
I’ll let English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge raise the final note of praise for Bunyan’s work. Coleridge appreciated both its theological and literary powers:
It is composed in the lowest style of English, without slang or false grammar. If you were to polish it, you would at once destroy the reality of the vision… This wonderful book is one of the few books which may be read repeatedly, at different times, and each time with a new and different pleasure. I read it once as a theologian, and let me assure you that there is great theological acument in the work; once with devotional feeling; and once as a poet. I could not have believed beforehand that Calvinism could be painted in such exquisitely delightful colors.
Sweet counsel 02.17.09
February 17, 2009
MEANDER
Hoary hairs: After a recent worship service in which we sang “How Firm a Foundation,” someone asked me about the fifth verse:
“E’en down to old age all my people shall prove
my sov’reign, eternal unchangeable love.
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
like lambs they shall still in my bosom be born.”
What are ‘hoary hairs’? I answered thus: “It’s what people buy Clairol and Grecian Formula to get rid of.” As an added bonus, here are three Scripture passages that speak of hoary hairs adorning our temples (think the temple of your head, not the kind Solomon built):
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. [Psalm 71:18]
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” [Isaiah 46:3-4]
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. [Proverbs 16:31]
The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. [Proverbs 20:29]
That changes the way I feel about those hoary hairs that are appearing at the fringe of my temples.
INFORM
Podcasting: After the ironing of some technical wrinkles, the FPC sermon podcasts are available via iTunes this week. Even if you don’t have an iPod or iPhone, iTunes is an excellent media player for your computer–and you can download podcasts and listen to them on your computer. The download of the software is free. From the iTunes Store you can click on “podcasts” and enter “Kosciusko” in the search bar, and it will find the FPC podcast for you. Then click on subscribe (it’s free!) and the latest sermon will automatically begin downloading on to your computer. Each time you open iTunes it will check for new FPC podcast content. I am thankful for this technology, as it has allowed me to listen in on sermons from friends and preachers I respect. This is a simple and inexpensive way for the proclamation of the Word to get out to many, many people.
REMIND
Pray for Ed: We had such a joyful time last Sunday evening in worship! It was good to see Ed and Emily Hartman and to have Ed here for the Baptism of his nephew Burton Potts. Ed was in Jackson Sunday morning speaking at the FPC Jackson Missions Conference. After worshiping with us here, he and Emily drove to Memphis where he is seeking some medical attention for his ear problems. As you pray for the Hartmans, please remember to pray for healing in his ear. I can only imagine the extra hardships that problem places on him daily in Romania.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching Genesis 22, in which Abraham nearly sacrifices his beloved son Isaac, the child of promise. In preparation you might want to read Hebrews 11:17-19, James 2:21-23, John 3:16 and Romans 8:32 and consider the light those passages shed on this incident in Father Abraham’s life. We’ll sing All Creatures of Our God and King, What Wondrous Love Is This, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, and My Faith Looks Up to Thee.
Evening Worship: I’ll bring the third message in the series The Unveiling: the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We’ll observe how Christ Jesus is unveiled for us in Revelation. We’ll sing a number of hymns and songs exalting the Savior, such as Fairest Lord Jesus and I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art. If instrumentation works out, we might even sing King of Saints. You can listen to a sample of King of Saints here.
Do you still love technology?
February 11, 2009
Here are three recent blog posts calling us to consider the effects of technology on our relationships…and yes, I recognize the irony!
- Rod Dreher on 24 things about to disappear in America.
- Russell Moore on thinking critically about cell phones in the hands of teenagers. The comments are worth reading as well. Moore could certainly have improved his piece by contemplating options in which parents and teens can find mutually satisfactory terms of usage, and I think his “another gospel” reference is a bit over the top.
- Carl Trueman on is not all that keen on social networking.
Sweet counsel: 2.10.09
February 10, 2009
INFORM
Whence the name ‘Sweet Counsel’? It has a connection both to my blog “The Sweet Dropper” and to Psalm 55:14. The Psalm is a lament about betrayal at the hands of a friend. In v.14 the singer looks back at the friendship and remembers how “We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.” I’ve seized on that image of walking together in fellowship in God’s house by grabbing that name to describe what I want to do with these weekly updates.
PDS pastor appreciation: The students at Presbyterian Day School put on a fine “Pastor Appreciation Day” program this morning. The students invite their pastor to come, and PDS puts on a brunch in the Jackson Room, followed by a program in the sanctuary with music, skits, Scripture and poetry recitals, and, this year, a puppet show. It means so much to students when their pastor comes. I always receive encouraging words from the pastors as well. The ministry of PDS means a lot to them. They see the difference PDS is making in their Sunday School classes and in the spiritual well-being of the families who send their children to PDS.
Local boy hits the big time. Among the crowd here last week for Presbytery was a son of this congregation, Dr. Tom Elkin. Tom has joined the pastoral staff of FPC Jackson in February 2009, after retiring as a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Staff Minister at Independent Presbyterian in Memphis, TN. He earned a B.A. from Belhaven College in 1962 and B.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA in 1965. He earned his Ph.D. from Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA in 1972. Tom told me he looks forward to seeing us here in Attala County from time to time.
MEANDER
The term $1 trillion has been floating around lately. Consider this:
- If you spent a $1 million per day, ever day from the birth of Christ, in 2009 you’d only be about 3/4 of the way to a trillion.
- If you got $1 every second, it would take almost 32,000 years to get to a trillion.
- If you stacked a trillion dollar bills on top of each other, it would go 68,000 miles into space–1/3 of the way to the moon.
- If you took 100-dollar bills and put them side to side, it would circle the equator 38.9 times
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching Genesis 21, in which Isaac, the child of promise, is born. We’ll sing The Church’s One Foundation and Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire.
Evening Worship: I’ll bring the second message in The Unveiling: the Revelation of Jesus Christ. I’ll suggest some ground rules for reading Revelation. Among the hymns we’ll sing are O Worship the King and Be Still, My Soul.
Sweet counsel 02.05.09
February 5, 2009
REPORT
FPC hosted Mississippi Valley Presbytery on Tuesday. How many ministers and elders were here? When we convened at 9:00 am there were about 65. At 10:30 there were around 90. Guess when the largest crowd was here? If you guessed lunchtime, you were correct! Our ladies fed 110. When we adjourned at 4:30 pm a remnant of 60 or so remained. So it goes.
Our ladies did an outstanding job of planning and preparing meals and refreshments for the presbyters, who were very appreciative. I cannot tell you how many comments I received on how good the food was and how good our facilities looked. Our custodial staff and inside-outside committee and “squeaky-clean committee” did a great job. Preschool and PDS accommodated our guests beautifully. And I was encouraged to see many of you at the 11:00 am worship service as well.
Men’s Rally report: Sixteen FPC men attended last Friday’s Mid-South Men’s Rally at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson. There was food, warm fellowship, rousing hymn-singing and strong preaching from Rev. Rick Phillips of Greenville, South Carolina. Rick exhorted the near capacity crowd in two messages. In the first, we heard our calling as men summarized by the description of Adam’s work in the Garden of Eden: “working” and “keeping.” In the second, we were challenged in a very pointed way to consider how we ought to do those things in various areas of life. In addition to the 16, we saw and greeted Will Hammond, Tommy Galligan, Pat Davey, Tim Muse, and Rusty McKnight. And yes, you heard correctly that the church van suffered a tire blowout on MS 25 south of Carthage with yours truly at the steering wheel. With some help and encouragement from the men from Main Street Presbyterian in Columbus, we got ‘er done.
Joe has launched the website for the Culpeper, Virginia church plant. Check it out at culpepermission.org.
MEANDER
Gallup has just released a new poll on religiosity in the 50 U.S. states. The results indicate that Mississippi is the most religious state in the U.S., with 85% of respondents saying that religion is “an important part of daily life.” Alabama was a close second. The four New England states brought up with year with fewer than 50% of respondents reporting that religion was important. If anyone is interested in planting a church in Vermont, we ought to encourage him. As a pastor and native Mississippian, I take little pride in the survey results; rather, they suggest that we are most liable to be ‘tone deaf’ to the gospel and most likely to suffer from self-righteousness and Pharisaism. The bottom line is: we must continue to preach the gospel and to pursue God, his ways and people, whether we are in 85% territory or 42% territory. You can find a full report on the poll here.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching Genesis 20 ( “God of Another Chance”). We’ll sing Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, I Need Thee Every Hour, and a setting of Psalm 37 which teaches us the wisdom of resting, trusting and waiting patiently for Lord, especially when it appears that the wicked are gaining the upper hand and the righteous languish.
Evening Worship: I’ll begin the series on Revelation (‘The Unveiling: The Revelation of Jesus Christ’). My plan is to zero in on some significant themes in the book and highlight how John’s vision gives deep pastoral insight into how we should live in the community of believers right here and right now. We’ll sing All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above, Faith of Our Fathers, Abide with Me, and How Firm a Foundation.
