I am aware that mediating positions on difficult subjects are not popular in our social media environment, but I would recommend one anyway. We should be candid and forthright about the failings of people in the past, but we should not flatter ourselves by assuming we would have done better in their situation.   One... Continue Reading

Will one service strengthen our faith? Sure! Will a morning service feed our souls with spiritual milk? Absolutely! But a second service, whereby Christ and his glories are set before us, provides even more food to fatten the sheep. In addition, the evening service gives more opportunity to hear the “whole counsel of God.” More... Continue Reading

When confronted with the truth, heretics and their apologists almost never willingly admit that they do not affirm orthodox Christianity. However, the church prior to the mid-19th Century stood against heretics and their teachings using Church discipline to rid the Body of Christ of them and their heresies. However, things changed about 150 years ago... Continue Reading

Historic Reformed theology is a way to understand most of the reasons why we do what we do, because it is an understanding of the bible’s covenantal themes. Reformed theology is Covenant Theology, which is the underlying doctrine of the great exchange. That is the good news of the imputation of our sin to Christ,... Continue Reading

The pursuit of nice often ignores both sides of a disagreement. It opts for the third way without really sorting out what’s right and wrong in the controverted issues. Which means, that love or nice is its own sort of polemical meanness because in taking no side and offering no alternative except to say “love”... Continue Reading

Baxter’s pastoral work ethic is undeniable.  His energy is passionate and unrelenting.  His enthusiasm is in evidence on every page.  Both his rhetoric and his practical counsel are charged with passion for Christ, the doctrines of grace, the purity of the church, the necessity for clerical holiness, the discipling purposes of education, and the high... Continue Reading

Since we’re all going to die, a good part of the Christian life must be preparing to die. We need to talk about it often. We need to sing songs that anticipate that day and help to prepare us. We often live as if death isn’t our reality. Life is short, and the inevitability of... Continue Reading

Doctrines like aseity are a better means for affirming modern impulses to avoid philosophical captivity, to offer apologetic relevance, and to stay attuned to sound exegesis than the alternatives offered by modern theology. Aseity remains one basis in the doctrine of God for Christian appreciation of the gratuitousness and victory of God.   Aseity refers... Continue Reading

Her book, The Mothers Blessing, was written as a letter to her grown children after their father had died. This was an acceptable form of writing for women. What was unexpected was its reception. Printed soon after her death (1616), it became an instant success, so much that 23 editions were published before 1674.  ... Continue Reading

Some equality is good and should be fought for: equality before the law, and equal access to the Gospel. Some equality is impossible and is like chasing rainbows: equality of outcome for all, equal pay for all people, equal education for all aptitudes, equal roles for different sexes, ages, and abilities.   When God made... Continue Reading