These principles should aid and encourage readers to pick up the premiere neo-Calvinist theologian for themselves. While reading Bavinck is indeed still often challenging and difficult, readers should find that the profit is well worth the toil. Tolle Lege!   With the recent publication of Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics and the forthcoming first English translation... Continue Reading

McPheeters is remembered for his clear understanding of his pastoral duties at a time when the extreme passions of the civil war exacerbated the all-too-common confusion between church and state.   It was 1862, two days after Christmas. The American Civil War was still raging, when Samuel Brown McPheeters, Presbyterian pastor of the largest church... Continue Reading

Most people on the street today would say that one’s subjective act of faith has nothing to do with the object [of that faith]. The significance of faith becomes determined entirely by the quality of our choosing rather than on the quality of what is chosen.   According to reports, Prince Charles intends—if he ever... Continue Reading

Today, when we consider the extent of the atonement, we should remember that the Synod of Dort wrote a biblically-saturated and pastorally-useful statement that stands above anything written in the last four centuries. Rather than stressing what Christ did not accomplish in a limited atonement, the second canon of Dort edifies the believer as it... Continue Reading

The whole warp and whoof of Paul’s theology (including his theology of sanctification) is grounded in his understanding of who he is (and thus, who we are) in Christ. It is his doctrine of union in Christ that pulsates like a great melodic line running through the entirety of Paul’s thought. He’s a theologian of... Continue Reading

Facing men who seek to undermine his ministry, Paul describes the events surrounding his conversion to prove the Judaizers are liars for making accusations that Jesus never directly called him to be an apostle. He reminds us that he persecuted the church before meeting Christ. Such an explanation provides a powerful contrast with his new... Continue Reading

In a culture marked by talking heads, Christians, in particular, need to be marked by a desire to listen and understand. Rather than turning people into arguments that need to be defeated, believers should take time to listen with patience and genuine concern.   If you were to turn on the cable news, you would... Continue Reading

The point is that we need to align the way we talk about the world and its peoples with how Scripture speaks of them. We should define our missionary expectations by the Bible, not going beyond what it has said. And we must ground our endeavors and formulate strategies in ways primarily driven by God’s... Continue Reading

Is faith mainly about believing facts, or is it primarily about a relationship of trust with “the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Here’s where the rubber hits the Scriptural road, because over and over again when faith is used in Scripture it is not about intellectual assent.... Continue Reading

Tell them how unworthy they are and that they need to be far more holy if they intend for Him to listen to them. Encourage a sense of unease about their relationship with Him and the idea that to gain His favor, they need to obey a little more. Uncertainty about their relationship with Him... Continue Reading