The fact that our children face challenges and pressures is not in dispute. Their response is not assured or given. However, we can do much to prepare them—church, family, and school functioning in community and grounded in a biblical worldview afford the best opportunity for necessary formation.    My first car was one of Honda’s... Continue Reading

Paul’s place of birth, his heritage, his education, and his vocation were all means by which God was molding and fashioning Paul to be the servant whom God had purposed him to be.   Paul’s life was a testimony to the gospel that he preached, so knowing something about his life helps us have a... Continue Reading

The Passover is fulfilled, but Christ still calls us to be unleavened. It’s not about the bread on the communion table. It’s about us. Will I be pure in heart for my Saviour?   Everything about this festival was meant to call to mind the events of the great exodus from Egypt. There was even... Continue Reading

Reformed Christians have the richest account of God’s love in all of Christendom. We trace it from before the foundation of the world through the golden chain to the certain glorification that awaits us in eternity. The doctrine is there. It just hasn’t finished the journey from our heads to our hearts.   Insecure people... Continue Reading

We never know what will come about because of our ordinary acts of faithfulness—be it a kind, passing word, a whispered prayer, or even a simple question. Indeed, Pascal had his wager, my father had his—“Have you been born again?   Blaise Pascal was a Renaissance man—among other things, he was a philosopher, mathematician, physicist,... Continue Reading

Spiritual leaders are those called by God through the local church not merely to proclaim the Gospel but to exemplify the power of the Gospel through genuine godliness. This is the heartbeat of the qualification passages of 1 Timothy and Titus 1.   Any discussion about the qualifications of pastors/elders must begin with 1 Timothy... Continue Reading

Members of A4MR desire less division in the PCA. That is a good and worthy aim. But when vague accusations about extremes and the need for renewal are put forward without definition, it is worth asking a harder question. Are they willing to look in the mirror and consider whether their own rhetorical approach is... Continue Reading

Most people find it easy enough to accept that heaven is everlasting. The harder question is whether hell is equally everlasting, and this is precisely where several alternative views have emerged.   For Christians, it is important to understand the Bible’s fundamental teaching regarding the doctrines of heaven and hell. In recent months there has... Continue Reading

The purpose of creation is Jesus. We might enjoy God’s world and ignore Jesus, in which case we’ve missed the most important thing.   Another thing we notice in this highly structured creation account of Genesis 1 is that God does things intentionally here. God chose to create this thing here, and then that thing... Continue Reading

We have all that we truly need in our union with God, and even when good things are held back by the hand of our Father in heaven, it is for our good and sanctification.   But godliness with contentment is great gain —1 Timothy 6:6 Jeremiah Burroughs’ classic work The Rare Jewel of Christian... Continue Reading