Dear Unbelieving Mom, Dad, or Grandparent, Perhaps you are a flat-out denier of the truth of Christianity. Or, perhaps, you would not refer to yourself as an “unbeliever” at all since you do profess to be a Christian. But, for all intents and purposes, you are what is referred to as a “nominal” Christian. In […]
Theology
Who Invented “Church Membership” anyway?
Is church membership a manmade idea or is it really biblical? In this short post, we’ll consider just one text. Peter told pastors in his first epistle to “shepherd the flock of God that is *among you*.” (1 Peter 5:2) There is a lot there we could unpack but let me make one observation. Either […]
Sloth, Sam Sloth: The Unlikely Detective — Children’s Book Review
Noble, Sara. Sloth, Sam Sloth: The Unlikely Detective. Independently published, 2021. 32pp. $8.99. Purchase here. Biographical Sketch of the Author Sara Noble (From Amazon) I love writing, painting with acrylics, drawing, teaching, hiking, running, cats, books, laughing, puns, and embracing the good, noble, lovely, and praiseworthy things of this life. I do have a Bachelor’s […]
Commentary on Ephesians: WBC by Lincoln (book review)
This important commentary on Ephesians comes to us from Andrew T. Walker as part of Zondervan’s Word Biblical Commentary series. Unfortunately, while Lincoln may be an accomplished scholar, his denial that the Apostle Paul actually wrote Ephesians affects the usefulness of this book for believing students of the Bible.
Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Joy Welcher (book review), part 1
This post contains adult subject matter. Here in 2021, it appears that the concept of “purity culture” has imploded upon itself. Joshua Harris was sort of a punchline even before he announced his apostasy. Every Man’s Battle series author Stephen Arterburn is on his third marriage. He divorced his second wife after meeting his third […]
The Enemy of Your Enemy May Not Be Your Friend
There’s a pretty well-known quote that goes like this: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The idea is simple enough: if you have an enemy, someone else who is an enemy of that person is someone with whom you now have something in common. And he may even be a person whom it would […]
5 Ways the Holy Spirit Builds Christian Fortitude
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fortitude as “a quality of character combining courage and staying power.” In Ephesians 3:16 Paul prays that God would strengthen His people with power through the Holy Spirit. We might say, then, that it is biblical to pray for Christian fortitude. This post is about how God delivers His strength to our […]
The Christian Teacher as Office Bearer (book review)
The Christian Teacher as Office Bearer does not present a simplistic “What Would Jesus Do?” way of “being like Jesus.” Joel Beeke gives readers a wonderfully biblical, theologically rich, and aspirational vision of what it means to reflect Christ to students.
Isaiah 7, a Child, and Impeccability
When discussing the humanity of Jesus Christ, impeccability is the word Christians use to describe that Jesus was unable to sin. This is a disputed topic even among Reformed™ brethren. There are some who teach that it was, in fact, possible for Jesus to sin, yet he did not. Impeccability is the word we use to say […]
The Reformed Christian and the Sovereignty of God
This is just a quick post highlighting some great quotes from Joel Beeke on the sovereignty of God. This is from his book Reformed Preaching. The quotes are found on pages 64 and 66. The reformed Christian believes that God is the Lord of life and Sovereign of the universe, whose will is the key to history. […]
ESV Preaching Bible (book review)
The ESV Preaching Bible is another solid contribution from Crossway to the premium bible market. The elegant black goatskin, art guiding, generous font size all make this bible a pleasure to use in service to the church or simply to read from devotionally.
A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin (book review)
A Little Book on the Christian Life I was surprised to find out how utterly readable John Calvin is when I first delved into reading him myself. As I stated (in other words) in my review of Simonetta Carr’s biography of Calvin, his immense contribution to Christianity made me think that somehow his writing would […]
Here I Am, Send Someone Else
The Background No doubt it was a bizarre sight – the bush burning, but not consumed from the fire. And when God called Moses he said the same thing Abraham said to God in Genesis 22, “Here I am!” This is the same thing the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 6 when the voice of […]
John Calvin (book review)
From the Back Cover In this attractive volume, Simonetta Carr introduces young readers to the life, thought, and work of one of the most famous Reformers of the Christian church. She tells about the life of John Calvin from his birth to his death, placing him within the troubled context of the sixteenth century. Carr […]
Cradle or Credo?: A Defense of Biblical Baptism
With the recent move of a good brother, Jared Longshore, from credobaptist to paedobaptist, I thought I would share an excerpt from a book I’m continuing to work on in my “free time”, A Change of Heart: Understanding Regeneration and Why it Matters. Below comes from chapter 13 on the ordinances. While I certainly believe Presbyterians […]
Reading with the Grain of Scripture (book review)
Richard B. Hays’ Reading with the Grain of Scripture is a worthy contribution to the literature on properly interpreting the Bible and the historicity of the Christ that it points us to. Recommended.
Born of Mercy
In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter gives glory to God highlighting His blessedness and His great mercy for His causing sinners to be born again. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection […]
Revisiting Andy Stanley’s “Unhitch” Remark (audio edition)
Back in the “good days” of Reformed social media when the topic du jour was inerrancy instead of critical social justice, Pastor Andy Stanley came under fire for stating in a sermon that we need to “unhitch” from the Old Testament. Some of the criticisms seemed to go beyond what Stanley had said in the first […]
John Newton (book review)
Never in my life have I read a testimony that brought to mind my own life as the biography of John Newton. From the near-death experiences displaying the providence of God to the conversion of a hateful sinner into a preacher of God’s love, I was moved on nearly every page by the demonstration of […]
No Rest for the Wicked: Satan’s Active Work in Today’s World
The Sovereignty of God In 1 Peter 5:8 the Apostle says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The Bible is clear in many places that Satan is at work in our world today. Yet, the Bible also reveals that even Satan’s work is […]