In a time like ours, when everything seems in disarray and out of joint, many individual Christians wonder what they can do. Not only is the world outside corrupt, the world within the church seems hopelessly compromised. Faithful Christians tend to alternate between “not thinking about it” and chafing under the futility of not having …
The Invisible Mainspring of Human Conflict
Introduction: And now for a little intellectual history—my own, that is. This can be read by friend and foe alike with edifying pleasure. My friends can discover how I learned these wonderful things and my foes can discover what messed me up so bad. First consider the base coat of my theological assumptions that were …
Psalm 85/The Kiss of Salvation
Introduction: God puts sinners back together, and God in His mercy puts backsliders back together again. How He does this is truly remarkable, and as we enter into the spirit of this psalm we find ourselves right at the heart of the gospel. The Text: “Lord, thou hast been Favourable unto thy land: Thou hast …
A New Work
Over the next few weeks we are going to be launching Christ Church Downtown (CCD), and so I thought it would be good to give a few basic reasons why we are doing things like this. The central reason is that Christ commanded us to disciple the nations, and this can only be accomplished as …
Faith is Not Under Your Seat
The apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that he would not that they should be ignorant. As we deal with holy things, ignorance is dangerous. Paul wanted them to know that their fathers were all under the cloud, and they all passed through the sea. The Jews in the wilderness are called the fathers of the …
Don’t Fall Off That Unicycle . . .
“The social manners of the clergyman ought, therefore, to be a just mingling of gravity and affability” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 374).
Psalm 84/No Good Thing Will He Withhold
Introduction: This is a psalm of pilgrimage—worshipers of God afar off are longing to be where they can worship Him at the place where He has set His name. They yearn to be at the place of worship, at his tabernacle, and the spirit of worship drives them there. The Text: “How amiable are thy …
Eating the Cross
The cross of Jesus Christ attracts those chosen by God, and that same cross repels those who are perishing. The words of life are delicious to those who are being saved, and they are repulsive to those who rest in their own wisdom. In His discussion of His body and blood, the Lord Jesus scatters …
Straight Outta Calvin
It is only natural that there are some federal vision questions. Of course there are. I have been asked a number of times what the response has been to my Federal Vision No Mas post. As best as I am able to gauge, there have been three visible responses. The first has been relief and …
Doug and Evan
Introduction: So to help make sense of this portion of my story, I have to set some dates that will serve as doctrinal pegs as I proceed. I became postmillennial somewhere near the end of 1985. Three years later, in 1988, I became a Calvinist (although I refused to call myself that for several years …