The woodpecker, is a marvelous bird and far from ordinary. Take his bill, for example. Isn’t it amazing how he can ram it into a tree thousands of times a minute without having to replace it or getting a terrific headache? Well, his head is equipped with shock absorbers. And these shock absorbers cushion the... Continue Reading

“Martin Luther and the other Reformers understood the holy character of this God. For them, the recovery of the gospel was such good news because they knew the trauma of holiness and that the only way to endure the presence of this holy God’s judgment is to be covered in the holiness and righteousness of... Continue Reading

Unlike many “Reformed” theologians today who view conditional or instrumental language with respect to good works as unorthodox or legalistic or outside the bounds of Reformed orthodoxy, Calvin unashamedly uses such language.   When I was a student at Westminster Seminary, I spent a number of months studying the Norman Shepherd controversy which racked that... Continue Reading

“There’s nothing wrong with asking to be released from a commitment. But if we can’t get free, then we need to make good on it. If we try living true to ourselves at the expense of others, it’ll cost us our relationships, our success, and ultimately everything of real and lasting value.”   When we... Continue Reading

“For all their defining importance in Christian history, confessions of faith have met with mixed reactions from Christians. While many believers have used confessions enthusiastically, others have claimed that confessions replace a vital relationship with God with a desiccated list of doctrine, replacing the Spirit with the letter, leaving only a husk of dead, dull... Continue Reading

We frequently live in self-reinforcing bubbles; we erect strawmen; we Bulverise; we divide the world into heroes and villains, “defenders of the faith” and “repugnant cultural others”; we find it easy to react and hard to listen; we valorize and demonize; we put ourselves on the side of the angels and find it hard to see good in... Continue Reading

“Whether it’s from the angle of the gospel, prayer, Bible-reading, community, or any other perspective that we might consider—our God is good, just, loving, merciful, kind, and holy. God is the Gospel.”   The Bible from beginning to end is the story of God. There is but one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Is.... Continue Reading

“By 1525, the Reformation movement in Zurich had gained significant traction. On April 14, 1525, the Mass was officially abolished and Protestant worship services were begun in and around Zurich. Zwingli chose to implement only what was taught in Scripture. Anything that had no explicit Scriptural support was rejected.”   Other than Martin Luther, Heinrich... Continue Reading

“If the gospel is to make its God-ordained inexorable progress throughout the world as it is proclaimed publicly through preaching and privately through the witness of the saints, then it must go hand in hand with the ‘give-yourselves-and-God-no-rest’ kind of praying of which Christ speaks in these verses.”   It should go without saying that... Continue Reading

“As Christ-followers, our parenting goal is not to raise well-behaved children, but to raise Christ-following adults. To disciple a Christ-follower, we must feed them a steady diet of good theology that is fortified with the Word of God, which tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that... Continue Reading