It is not necessarily true that the Christian leader who has been restored to the Lord, and perhaps restored to church membership and participation at the Lord’s Table (if we assume that he or she has been excommunicated) should also be restored to Christian leadership. Not every Christian in good standing in the church is... Continue Reading

Strange’s stated aim is to advance the argument that “while the Assembly may never have explicitly affirmed active obedience in what it finally adopted, nonetheless, the Westminster documents, taken as a whole, tend to affirm it” (2). He seeks to accomplish this by carefully considering both the original intent of the framers of the Westminster... Continue Reading

The self-driving car is coming. We anticipate it with a mixture of bemusement, disquiet, and excitement, all converging in disbelief: It’s not possible, not really. But it is not just possible but a virtual—so to speak—certainty, within perhaps a decade.    It’s 2032 and you’re heading into town in your self-driving car. You are alone,... Continue Reading

How he came to be placed in a crypt beneath the sanctuary of the Old South Church is a story well-told and easily found elsewhere. It’s the scene of the crypt itself I want to reflect on, as it has never ceased to entertain my pastoral imagination when I think of it.   The church... Continue Reading

Situated in the City of David, at the upper northern end of the Stepped Stone Structure, the Northern Tower was a poorly constructed fortified structure. It had the remains of a mikveh (ritual purification bath) on top. The Northern Tower was largely unearthed in the 1920s. Until 2007, archaeologists, including Dr. Mazar, generally assumed the tower dated... Continue Reading

While Bishop Cottrell did acknowledge biblical passages spoke about the issue, he said they were merely “part of our story and our inheritance”. “But what we can do is recognise that what we know now about human development and human sexuality requires us to look again at those texts to see what they are actually... Continue Reading

For Owen, partaking of God’s rest includes praising him for his work and aligning one’s work with his, which brings satisfaction and enjoyment. The people who partake in this rest are those who already have faith, yet they need to be “encouraged unto believing.”[13] Owen explains, true faith is not just hearing the “word of... Continue Reading

Christ is seen and worshipped not in our becoming like the world, but in our testifying the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, becoming like Christ, and worshipping and honoring Him on the Lord’s day according to His commandments alone. True rest on His day is set down in holy Scripture. To do... Continue Reading

All the chapters in the volume are helpful, but the first two are the most foundational. In chapter one, Hurtado gives us the lay of the land by surveying the variety of other approaches to Jesus devotion within early Christianity, offering a brief critical review of each of them, so that his own approach can... Continue Reading

In the future, hearts far from God will experience the terror of God in his inescapable holiness. Revelation 6 says that one day, there will be nowhere to hide. All people, from the greatest to the least, will be exposed in their sin.   God calls all Christians to personal holiness. To be holy means... Continue Reading