In July 1605, Arminius conducted a public disputation titled “On the Free Will of Man and Its Powers.” While the theses of the disputation themselves were not controversial, controversy soon swirled around him.   In this excerpt from Saving the Reformation, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey examines Jacob Arminius and the Calvinists who opposed his teaching.... Continue Reading

Pastoral ministry…is counter-cultural and prophetic in its insistence that people encounter the Word of God. As people are “rooted and built up” in Christ and “strengthened in the faith” (Col. 2:7), pastoral ministry unleashes an equipped body of believers to be salt and light and carry a biblical worldview out into the world to make... Continue Reading

While the list of helpful resources available to assist the pastor in his sermon preparation is seemingly endless, there is yet another invaluable element of sermon preparation to which we ought to give more serious consideration–namely, engaging in sermon preparation in community with other ministers.   Discussions about sermon preparation tend to gravitate towards subjects... Continue Reading

For the Westminster Assembly, the right hearing of the Word preached was as important as the right preaching of the Word. The Westminster Larger Catechism asks in question 160, “What is required of those that hear the Word preached?”   The Westminster Assembly had a high view of preaching by those called to the office.... Continue Reading

This danger is not only a threat to the church member but also to the pastors and elders who equate faithfulness with reputation. It is all too easy for someone who is called to the ministry to feel as though his counsel doesn’t carry the same weight if he has not written a book or... Continue Reading

It’s bad enough for adults to be over-medicated and to look to the pill cabinet for some kind of deliverance, but there’s something even sadder, and even more ominous about the fact that we are now as a culture over-medicating our own children.   Recently Dr. Al Mohler responded to an article by Erica Komisar... Continue Reading

We naturally assume that there will always be tomorrow—that there will always be another chance for this or that. We become procrastinators in our arrogance, assuming that the limited number of days we have on this earth will never come to an end. Because we drift toward this kind of arrogance in which we are... Continue Reading

It is true that in our present condition God’s image in us is blemished by the remains of indwelling sin. But it will not always be so. When in death we shall have died wholly to sin, and when on the resurrection morning we shall be raised incorruptible, we shall be altogether pure like Christ.... Continue Reading

Cremation seems to be a rarity in our churches so this may not be much of an issue for us today, but when you consider that cremation has gone from 4 per cent of Canadian funerals in 1961 to 46 per cent in 2001, it’s clear we will have to think about it soon. It’s... Continue Reading

Perhaps no man in all of history demonstrates the integration of these two godly virtues as well as William Wilberforce (1759-1833) did throughout his life.  A member of the British Parliament, he introduced anti-slavery measures year after year for 40 years.  He never wavered.  He never tempered his fervency.  And yet, he never resorted to... Continue Reading