There was a curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place. Only the High Priest could enter through the curtain. Only the High Priest could approach the ark, which symbolized the presence of the Holy God. To everyone else, access was denied. And then Christ came. If we have grown up hearing about... Continue Reading

 The consideration of God’s character and attributes is not merely an interesting topic of study for the Christian. It is an absolutely essential one! God has revealed himself to us, and this revelation leads us into salvation and makes possible our perseverance in the Christian life. We will never know it all, but we must... Continue Reading

Johnson is to be commended for the gospel-centrality of this book. Churches need a gospel-culture, which means pastors should be preaching the gospel, church members should know the gospel, and both should be sharing the gospel near and far. Moreover, Johnson offers a helpful take on missionary success: “Good gospel work won’t always yield immediate visible results,” for God is in control of... Continue Reading

An honest examination of Southern Baptist churches reveals a much deeper problem than even sexual abuse. The real problem is spiritual before it is moral. That is, Southern Baptists have a problem with God. They trumpet their affirmation of the inerrancy of Scripture and unhesitatingly call it the written Word of God. Yet, at the... Continue Reading

There seems, at least in my perspective, to be an unfortunate emphasis on the negative side of the pastoral ministry – conflict, long hours, budget woes, neglect, burnout, etc. Is that all the ministry amounts to? Not a chance! And I think pastors need to be guarded and resist the temptation of letting those things... Continue Reading

As I read the book I felt like I was being asked to carry a tiny fraction of the burden Simonetta and her family bore — and it was still onerous. But I also see the beauty of being part of a community where personal possession of painful knowledge is essential to burden-bearing.   Lois... Continue Reading

While the civil law as enforced by the state may not be as comprehensive as God’s moral law, do not assume that just because the “culture” or the “secular world” seems so sexually permissive that the society’s laws are not strict.  They are.  And they bear witness to the larger moral reality that God built... Continue Reading

David uses a variety of terminology to describe God’s Word:  commandments, law, statutes, precepts, ordinances, rules, words, testimonies, etc.  These all refer to the Scriptures as they existed in David’s day (essentially the Pentateuch). Thus, Psalm 119 is one of the best examples of Scripture speaking about Scripture.  It is the Word about the Word.  ... Continue Reading

A Berean is one akin to those described in Acts 17:10-15. There we read that these noble Jews “received the word with all eagerness” as they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”. In other words they didn’t simply receive the missionaries words just because they said them, they dug into... Continue Reading

The first is great error in the doctrines of regeneration is to downplay or even deny the need for regeneration. This is the Pelagianism. One of the reasons that the Synod of Dort regularly characterized the Remonstrant position as “Pelagian” was because the Remonstrants did downplay the need for regeneration in this sense. Pelagius and... Continue Reading