The joy of the Lord is our strength. As we pray for reformation, as we worship with reformation in mind. This phrase, taken from Nehemiah, should not be mis-rendered. We should not say, “The grief of the Lord is our strength.” God’s purpose is to save and deliver us. This does entail the grief that …
Like a Man Dragging a Rope
I am afraid that Westminster West is disgracing itself. I finally had a chance to begin reading Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry, edited by R. Scott Clark, and released by Presbyterian and Reformed, proud publishers of Norman Shepherd’s Call of Grace. The first essay in this new bucket of fruit is by Clark, and is …
Not a Graveyard for our Prayers
The pattern of worship in the Bible is this. We, in the power of the Holy Spirit, ascend into the heavenly places to worship God. As we worship Him there, and He receives our praise, He takes that glory and manifests it on earth. If we try to manifest God’s glory on earth directly, we …
Personal Loyalty
A few weeks ago, I made the point that leaders among the anti-FVers have been extremely reluctant to admit the obvious, which is that I hold to the historic Reformed view of justification and so on. The reason for this, I suggested, was political. In other words, to admit publicly that I had a clean …
A Caveat
As the previous post made clear, I genuinely appreciate a lot of what N.T Wright writes. Not only do I think it is true, but I believe that many in the Reformed world desperately need to learn many things from him. That said, I have been recently looking again at some of the issues we …
Evil and Debt Forgiveness
Today I just finished reading a new book by N.T. Wright — Evil and the Justice of God. I have quibbles and quabbles here and there, but the book as a whole is simply magnificent. If you want a treatment of the problem of evil that functions within the categories of biblical theology, and concludes …
The John Calvin Memorial Archives and Book Stacks
Mark Horne has posted a quotation from Calvin on Deuteronomy. I reproduce the quote below, but the comments on Mark’s blog are worth reading also. For, since the fall of Adam had brought disgrace upon all his posterity, God restores those, whom He separates as His own, so that their condition may be better than …
You Have Touched the Thing with a Needle
I would like to pass on to all of you some questions posed by a correspondent in Australia. He has been observing us toiling away here in our FV swamps, and sent on some questions that I thought were just grand, going right to the heart of the matter. If I were speaking to this …
Worship Is Political
The modern world specializes in fragmentation. Everything is broken apart into little bits, so that autonomous man might have the illusion that this world can be controlled by man, piece by little piece. But we are Christians, who serve the God who made heaven and earth, and who then remade them in Jesus Christ our …
And God Will Send His Blessings Down
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Everyone who fears the Lord is blessed, All who walk in the ways assigned. Your meals will be the work of your hands, Happiness weighs your table down, And it will all be well with all your house. Your wife will be …