Canon Observer

My entire interview with Michael Stone on humility is now free to watch.

Watch here:

The Greatest Virtue: A Biblical Case for Humility In this inaugural episode of Canon Observer, host Miz Rivera sits down with guest Michael Stone for a rich and convicting conversation on one of the most important yet overlooked virtues in the Christian life, humility. Drawing from Scripture and the wisdom of C.S. Lewis, Miz and Michael walk throug...

In this episode, Miz Rivera examines a popular modern framing of God, popularized by figures like Jordan Peterson, as "the highest good" or "the greatest good," and argues it falls short of what Scripture actually presents: a personal God who reveals himself by name.

Drawing on Thomas Oden's The Living God (p.85) and John Webster's Holiness, the episode traces the pattern of God's self-revelation from the garden through Cain, Job, Moses, and into the book of Revelation, arguing that abstractions like "ground of being," "the absolute," or "the creative event" cannot account for a God who names himself and calls his people by name in return.

Not the Highest Good. Yahweh. God as "the highest good" is incomplete. Miz Rivera draws on Thomas Oden and John Webster to argue Scripture reveals a God with a name, not an abstraction.

A homiletics workshop invitation from a friend at church sparked this episode, even though a scheduling conflict meant missing it. Rather than let the opportunity pass, this episode returns to foundational preaching principles through one of the most influential voices in church history: Augustine of Hippo. Drawing from The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's Sermons, two ideas surface that reshape how we think about preaching, teaching, and sharing the gospel: what it means to "eat" the Word before you can "give" it, and why the preacher should be listening as much as speaking.

St. Augustine's 10-Minute Homiletics Workshop That Never Was A homiletics workshop invitation from a friend at church sparked this episode, even though a scheduling conflict meant missing it. Rather than let the opportunity pass, this episode returns to foundational preaching principles through one of the most influential voices in church history: Augustine o...

Happy 4th of July from Canon Observer! New Article: A Harder Prayer Than Valley Forge https://www.canonobserver.com/articles/a-harder-prayer-than-valley-forge

The Vatican just excommunicated six SSPX bishops and declared the society in schism.

But the real question isn't about SSPX. It's about who actually gets to define orthodoxy, and whether that authority has ever really lived in one institution at all.

New from Canon Observer

https://www.canonobserver.com/articles/the-sspx-excommunication-isn-t-about-sspx

This week the Supreme Court cleared the way to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians. Across Catholic, Baptist, and Pentecostal lines, the Church is responding with grief and real mobilization: legal forums, food and rent help, sanctuary.

No court decision binds the work of the Church, and none can. Christian Haitians and Syrians remain part of the body of Christ whether they are here or back home. But the question underneath the moment is the one the Church keeps having to answer: is our compassion carrying the gospel at its center, or has it learned to serve like a nonprofit and forgotten how to witness?

We report the facts, then say where a Canon Observer reader can stand.

https://www.canonobserver.com/articles/supreme-court-allows-termination-of-temporary-protected-status-for-haitians-and-syrians

NEW RELEASE: One Greek word, mistranslated into Latin, and the church built a thousand years of practice on top of it. Penance and repentance are not the same thing. They are not even the same kind of thing. Here is the difference, and why it still matters.
https://www.canonobserver.com/articles/penance-vs-repentance-what-s-the-difference

The Southern Baptist Convention advanced a constitutional amendment barring women from the office or function of pastor, including preaching. A second vote in 2027 would make it permanent.

Southern Baptists Move to Bar Women From Preaching Southern Baptists advanced a constitutional ban on women in the pastoral office. What the vote settles, what it does not, and what Scripture actually says.

https://www.canonobserver.com/articles/compassion-without-the-gospel-is-not-enough