After His last meal, He tiptoed down the slope, crossed Kidron’s weeping Brook, ascended the craggy incline, to do combat with God’s wrath, away from crowds…secluded from the world.   A Provocative Question “Are those olive groves?” That was the question that my wife asked me this morning. We were on our way back to... Continue Reading

By God’s grace, we can adorn the gospel and so win people to it. People may not ask the questions we want them to ask: Who is Jesus? How can I overcome the problem of guilt?” But they do ask legitimate questions: Who am I? Does life have meaning? How can I find the joy,... Continue Reading

In the later prophetic books of the Old Testament, the exodus would be viewed as the paradigmatic act of redemption. When the prophets looked toward God’s future work of redemption, they compared it to the original exodus and spoke of it in terms of a new and greater exodus.   As the book of Exodus... Continue Reading

What stands in our way? Sometimes it’s pride and arrogance, which are sins. More often than not, however, the issue is truth: the word about Jesus that is supposed to unify actually divides believers. There have been plenty of unified communities throughout history, but unity by itself (political, special interest, or family) doesn’t testify to... Continue Reading

It is extremely valuable, if not essential, for a pastor to accept a call to serve a church with a willingness and desire to spend his life in that place. This is not to say that the Lord will never move him to another place, but such an attitude will always put the burden of... Continue Reading

Nature provides sufficient evidence to know God, morality, and providence exist. It also means that people can acquire practical wisdom and use common notions to discern right from wrong. Everyone affirms the law of non-contradiction (a first principle of reason) and that murder is wrong (a first principle of morality). Everyone can further acquire knowledge... Continue Reading

I’ve read 2 Timothy many times, but after visiting the prison where Paul penned this letter, the words now seem to jump off the pages. The letter carries a weight I had never before noticed. In it, Paul sheds light on suffering and how we must view our trials as believers in Christ. We are... Continue Reading

The Scriptures everywhere utilize the imagery of clouds to signal the immediate presence of God in time and space. This is one of those biblical-theological themes that has not often been given due consideration. Surprisingly, the Scriptures have much to teach, by way of illustration or allusion, about the symbolic and redemptive-historical significance of clouds.... Continue Reading

Johannes Bogerman had been a pastor since 1599, serving in various cities of Holland and Friesland, his homeland. There, he defended the teachings of the Reformation against the views of Anabaptists, Socinians, Jesuits, and Remonstrants who tried to influence his congregations.   “Dimittimini exiteI” (“You are dismissed, get out!”) With these imperious words, Johannes Bogerman... Continue Reading

The Gospel itself is undermined to some degree when Hell gets the short shrift. Though some consider extinction of self-consciousness a weighty sentence for earthly wrongs, it pales in comparison to never-ending conscious torment. The good news is only as good as the bad news is bad, and in Scripture eternal happiness and everlasting joy... Continue Reading