Some Important News

Yesterday the congregation of Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church voted (without dissent) to leave the PCA. They also voted to have Steve Wilkins continue as their pastor, and to approach the CREC for membership. They have been adopted as a mission church of Grace Covenant Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, pastored by Randy Booth. Steve was a …

The Game Show’s Brand New Season

There is a dust-up in progress at Westminster Seminary East. There are three basic issues involved, and I happen to be in a position to speak to two of them. The first would be the speaking habits of Westminster president Peter Lillback, the second would be reaction to Peter Enns’ book Inspiration and Incarnation, and …

An Anarchic Personality

You know you have hit a real nerve — without necessarily knowing which nerve — when nonbelievers take a deep and abiding interest in the arcane intramural disputes among conservative Presbyterians. But here we are. Nick Gier, who has been one of the chief voices in our local disturbances here in Moscow, has been writing …

Always Consistent, Never Predictable

“Do not say what everybody expected you would say. Keep your sentences out of ruts. If you have already said, ‘Salvation is all of grace’ not not always add, ‘and not by human merit,’ but vary it and say, ‘Salvation is all of grace; self-righteousness has not a corner to hide its head in.’ . …

Egg the Pudding, But Don’t Overegg the Pudding

“It is well that there should be a goodly number of illustrations in our discourses. We have the example of our Lord for that: and most of the greatest preachers have abounded in similies, metaphors, allegories, and anecdotes. But beware of overdoing this business” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 136).

Friendship Evangelism

INTRODUCTION: For various reasons, evangelism is a difficult subject for many Reformed Christians. Some die-hard Calvinists may have glanced at the title of this message—friendship evangelism—and asked, “What’s evangelism?” Or, if they are really die-hard Calvinists, perhaps they asked, “What’s friendship?” But this attitude is not what the Bible teaches, not what the tradition of …

Christ the Lord of the Covenant

The Word of God teaches us how we are to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testament, which relates to the relationship between the Jews and Gentiles. If we let go of certain preconceived ideas, that relationship is not difficult to grasp. “For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also …