Sermon Video Introduction: As we mark and celebrate the great work of the Spirit that we call the Protestant Reformation, we need to be mindful of remembering two things. The first is that we ...
The Word of No Condemnation
A Torrent of Truth, or, What We Actually Believe
Introduction: I recently had the pleasure of going through Michael Reeves' engaging history of the Reformation, a book entitled The Unquenchable Flame . I bring this up because he made a passing comment ...
Audio Reading of Post
Something Else to Look At
So I wanted to let you all know about a pilot project we have underway. We are calling it Reformed Basics, and we currently have 3 episodes posted on Amazon Prime. Here is the link: The episodes are about twenty minutes long, and are geared at high school level (although I believe that both younger …
No Need to Count the Barnacles
In a previous post, I alluded to the important matter of the marks of the church. Historically among the Reformed, these have been considered as Word and sacrament. Some have added a third mark, that of discipline, but I think this represents a small but significant confusion. This is a fallen world, which means that …
Protestant and Proud
No, no, not that kind of pride. The good kind. The kind that nobody objects to, like when you are proud of your kid’s performance in the school play. Don’t think of this as a long sustained argument. Think of it more as a coherent rant. But I do not rant with beads of sweat …
New-fangled Christological Ideas
In this place my friend Tim Bayly takes my friend Peter Leithart to task for what he wrote here. What are we to take away from all this, besides “my, what interesting friends you have”? I read through Tim’s piece a couple times, and did the same through Peter’s, and here are a few preliminary …
Centers and Edges
In his wonderful book on the Westminster Assembly, Robert Letham says this: “In short, the Assembly, within limits, was inclusive rather than exclusive. It sought to reach the widest measure of agreement possible, within acceptable limits of doctrine and practice” (Letham, The Westminster Assembly, p. 117). In many ways I think this should serve as …
Believing One Half of the Wrong End of It
An easy mistake concerning Calvinism is that it somehow must necessarily reduce to a stiff-upper lip Stoicism, particularly in its teaching on contentment. “It is one heart-quieting consideration in all the afflictions that befall us that God has a special hand in them.” This is from the great Thomas Watson, and some might find it …
11 Theses on Believing God
1. Born as we are in a fallen race, we need to begin with the recognition that unbelief is our default setting (Matt. 13:58). Unbelief is abnormal, but not really unusual. 2. This means that we are in a state of perpetual tension, because everything in the world around us declares the faithfulness of God …
Future Makers
It may sound inspiring to say “you can change your future,” but this raises the question. From what? To what? And how can you know that you did? There is no way to two-track it in order to compare them side by side. In order to understand your relationship to the future, you must understand …