We tend to make covenant vows, particularly the marriage kind, in the filtered sunlight of a warm (but not hot) spring day. We make them as the sun shines and the flowers bloom. Loved ones smile warmly around us. And the ones with whom we are entering covenant welcome us toward them. But the shining... Continue Reading

A faithful shepherd will pace himself for the long haul given the nature of the work. Pastors are not pounding out “products,” but doing heart work. And heart work can be messy, unpredictable, and slow to change.   The Tortoise wins. I remember hearing Aesop’s famous fable The Hare & the Tortoise as a little boy and... Continue Reading

Holding fast to one thing while actively pursuing another is no easy task. That’s why so many, in the sincere desire to be those who grow, leave the truth behind. For those of us for whom historical doctrine is precious, there is the opposite temptation: to remain static (or, we might say, stagnant) in our... Continue Reading

As Protestants we are convinced that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, sufficient Word of God. We rightly proclaim the doctrine of Scripture alone (sola scriptura) which assures us that the Bible is our sole authoritative rule for faith and practice. When we introduce prophecy, we must grapple with how to practice it in such... Continue Reading

In the preface to his book The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Owen does what no good marketing agent would allow today. He begins like this: “READER, . . . If thou art, as many in this pretending age, a sign or title gazer, and comest into books as Cato into the theatre, to... Continue Reading

Both an individualistic and institutional approach to Christianity misunderstand the Christian life. Conversion is an individual experience that’s intended to become a congregational reality. It’s simply impossible to conceptualize New Testament Christianity apart from the local church.   Have you ever heard someone say, “I am into Jesus, but not the church”? My first encounter with... Continue Reading

In his sixth chapter, Gulley laments the fact that Christians are so concerned about protecting the church from aberrant views that they stifle free thinking and are even kicking people out who don’t conform. To make his point, he proceeds to tell stories about people he knows who were “disfellowshipped” or “shunned” by their churches... Continue Reading

Paul refers to the righteousness from God, that is, the righteous status God graciously and freely gives to condemned sinners who receive Him by faith. This righteousness, Luther realized, is an alien righteousness. It’s not a righteousness from within the sinner, but rather the perfect, stainless righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to the sinner’s account upon faith.... Continue Reading

When Christians take on a new life in Christ, we learn a new vocabulary. Words like “grace,” “forgiveness,” “justify,” and “redemption” grip us with their newfound meanings. But the vocabulary lesson does not end there, and sadly not all Christian-ese is thoroughly Christian. Common church speak can even unintentionally distort the gospel message. Though tempting to many... Continue Reading

Sarah, by faith, conceives a child. What is truly “inconceivable” is the fact that when Sarah conceives Isaac, she is an old woman. The way of women had ceased to be with her (Gen. 18:11). If that were not enough to startle us, Abraham himself is one hundred years old when he and Sarah conceive... Continue Reading