This is the last Sunday before the election, and next Lord’s Day we will all know a lot more about what exactly we have done to ourselves. Consider this exhortation a last set of reminders. First, the church is necessarily a political force, and nothing in governmental restrictions can be done to undo that. We …
The Rain of Bread
For those who are converted to God, the grace of God envelops everything, drives everything, defines everything. This includes our desire to learn how to walk in His ways, which means our desire to grow and flourish in our sanctification, which means loving and understanding His law. This is a Table of grace. There is …
Thoughts for the Final Stretch
The Purported End of Protestantism
Introduction: In the Acknowledgments of The End of Protestantism, Peter Leithart mentions the privilege he had of debating with me at New St. Andrews last year on the issues surrounding the thesis of this, his most recent book. Now that I have the book, I have to say the privilege is all mine—but the debate …
The Secret Courtship, Part Two
In a recent email exchange with Gary Greenfield, he acknowledged to me that there had indeed been a secret courtship between Jamin and Natalie, approved by him. He said “You are indeed correct about my initial decision to allow Jamin in our house and that decision was based on multiple motives being: 1. To court …
The Telos of Preaching
“Yet, as it is the peculiar function of the preacher, as such, to address an audience, so it is the peculiar function of the audience, as such, to address God, as the result of the preacher’s address to them. Preaching should always end in worship” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 297).
499 Years and Counting: Reformation 500
499 years ago, a monk hammered a list on a church’s door which is widely considered as firing the starting gun of the Reformation. And at our next Grace Agenda Conference, in the spring of the coming year 2017, you are invited to join us on the next lap for Reformation 500. Reformation 500 is …
Reformation Now
Introduction: We are fast approaching the five hundredth anniversary of the glorious Reformation. In just a few months we will find ourselves marking that momentous year, and our Grace Agenda conference in the spring is dedicated to a celebration of it. Now the history of the Church is always tangled, and we can never approach …
Satan at the Supper
When the Lord Jesus first instituted this meal, at the first occasion of it, He was greatly troubled in His spirit. The reason for the trouble is that there was treachery at the Table: “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that …
Politics and Princes: Themes in Proverbs IV
Introduction: We are currently very aware of politics because we are in an election season, and because our political discourse is currently inflamed. We are very much under the chastisement of God, and it would be wise for us to consider ancient wisdom from the book of Proverbs as we pray about what we are …