Whenever a people sin with their fathers, they are carrying on a tradition. The long practice of tradition gives the disobedience a sheen that it would not otherwise have. One writer has helpfully distinguished between tradition, which is the living faith of the dead, and traditionalism, which is the dead faith of the living. When …
In the Thousands
Today marks the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the horrific attack on our nation that caused the collapse of the World Trade Towers, and significant destruction at the Pentagon. On a horizontal level, on its own terms, this was an act of war which fully justified a military response, and with that we have no quarrel. …
A Staggering Exchange
Jesus told the story of the shepherd who left the 99 in order to pursue the one sheep who had strayed. Throughout the church, pastors—who are shepherds—have had to carefully balance these tasks. When they miss the biblical balance in this, some act as through there is no such thing as straying. They don’t really …
Wanting to be the Third Son
You have heard a number of times that we are an evangelical and Reformed congregation. But to avoid falling into the use of denominational buzzwords, we should remind ourselves from time to time what the words we commonly use actually mean. An evangelical preacher is not someone who waves his arms when he talks. An …
No Miniscule Fraction
The psalmist asks “who can understand his errors?” We often think that it is enough to be ashamed of them, when we are really called to learn, through the Spirit, what the nature of our fault actually is. All such meditations should begin with the cross—God’s reply to our errors. When Jesus died on the …
A Welcome to Students
We are very pleased to welcome our students back. We rejoice at what God has done for you over the summer, and we are delighted to think about all that you will bless our community with in the coming year. We also welcome our freshmen, and we look forward to getting to know you, and …
Our God Makes Provision
In the grip of unbelief, we love to pretend that the passage of time makes it unnecessary to trust in Jesus. We think that the modern era, or the postmodern era, or whatever unbelievers cook up after that makes simple trust, simple faith, somehow outdated. This is how the immaturity of every form of rebellion …
And Among the Empty Pizza Boxes There Was Not Found a Helper Suitable Unto Him
As we grow in the Lord, we discover that as soon as we turn from one thing, there is always another. There is no plateau in this life where we can afford to relax, pretending that we now have everything well in hand. If we turn away for a moment, if we offend at just …
Ecclesiastical Immigrants
A month or so ago, I exhorted you all to mark your calendars for the Fall Conference that is coming up in September, and I urged you to remember that this was not just an fyi thing, but rather an event of some strategic importance. I wanted to follow up on that, explaining it a …
He Will Come
Because we present arguments in the presentation of the gospel, we sometimes come to think that the outcome of matter rests upon those arguments. But God uses arguments — He doesn’t depend upon them. He doesn’t lean on them. The reason people resist and reject the gospel is because of willfulness, not because we have …