Once there were two headmasters of two Christian schools who were good friends. They lived in different cities, and didn’t see one another very often, but they did make a point of catching up a couple times a year. One time they got together for lunch when their schools were competing in a regional spelling …
Especially For You
Something we have said here many times is that this meal is not a reward for being good. This is not an awards ceremony. We sometimes draw this false conclusion from the practice of church discipline—if someone can be excluded from this meal, which excommunication most certainly does, then weren’t they excluded for being bad? …
Really Married
Since I used my stand-by marriage analogy in the previous post, let me modify it slightly before Frank Turk says something about it. I do this because I know the illustration is not exact. Let me modify it so that it is exact. Suppose that marriage exists, just as it does today, but with this …
Then Learn from the Baptist
Let me begin my discussion of this next chapter in Piper with a caution for any defenders of Wright who think that Piper is “missing it,” or “not understanding,” or anything along those lines. This chapter is discussing issues right at the heart of the Reformed understanding of how the gospel works. Piper is arguing …
Louisiana Indictment
The indictment of Louisiana Presbytery by the Standing Judicial Commission has now been made public, although I don’t know where it is on the Net. As soon as I do, I will link to it. The portion that was emailed to me is almost as interesting as a caucus in Iowa. In it, there were …
Welcome to the Reformed Faith
A few years ago, I preached a series of sermons that provided a basic introduction to the Reformed faith. There are six messages — 1. Christ, the Lord of Creation; 2. Christ, Lord of Redemption; 3. Christ, Lord of the Covenant; 4. Christ, Lord of the Nations; 5. Christ, Lord of the Law; and 6. …
That Princely Sum!
In this oracle, we have seen the conquests of Alexander, the great contrast with the humility of Christ, and the success of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid dynasty. We come now to the next stage of redemptive history — the apostasy of the Jews and God’s judgment against them in the time of the …
Thistles on Reprobate Land
The word adokimos is rendered as reprobate, castaway, or rejected. It represents the condition of sin itself, but not a particular sinful action. Those who do not want to retain a knowledge of God in their thoughts are given over to a reprobate mind (Rom. 1:28). This is the kind of mind that refuses to …
Prepare the Preacher, Not Just the Sermon
“Read also good suggestive books, and get your mind aroused by them . . . Your pulpit preparations are your first business . . . I have no belief in that ministry which ignores laborious preparation” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 93).
Lots of Fun Stuff
“The dynamist verge cherishes these things too. It care about intensive progress. And it perceives what stasists miss — the spectacular creativity and cumulative knowledge embedded in the things we take for granted: in the making of movies, the fabrics and shapes of our clothes, the subtle combination of fine cuisine, the emotional impact of …