On the Nature and Frequency of the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Every bit of data we possess points us in the direction that the early church celebrated the Lord’s Supper whenever they assembled for worship as Jesus had instructed them to do.
In the absence of frequent observance of the Lord’s Supper, the gap created in the apostolic order of worship becomes rather noticeable. There is a reason why those fundamentalists who stand in the revivalist tradition place the “altar call” or an appeal to make some sort of re-dedication or re-commitment to Christ at the end... Continue Reading
Sleeping on Rocks Right Now? Jesus Is Right There
God pulls aside the curtain to show Jacob what is going on behind his desolate circumstances.
Jacob had betrayed family and God and had lost everything. Yet God was working right then even in Jacob’s betrayal and desolation to fulfill his promise. God was there, heaven and earth were joined. God’s ministering servants rushed up and down for Jacob. How gracious God is! How kind, patient, and longsuffering. How wise and mighty... Continue Reading
Clement of Rome Remembers Jesus Christ
Clement regularly points, not only to the voluntary humility of Jesus Christ for our salvation, but to the final glory of Christ.
Clement remembered Jesus Christ. He saw the incarnation of Christ, his taking to himself our flesh and nature, as the model for all Christian humility and consequent unity. Jesus consummates the decree of election by shedding his blood as high priest and rising from the dead as the firstfruit for our redemption. Through him, the... Continue Reading
The Best Hymn Writer You’ve Never Heard Of
Writing amid debilitating physical symptoms and emotional pain, Anne Steele didn’t spend time in the limelight.
She has reminded me of God’s holiness that makes me tremble—and God’s compassion that never fails. Because of her ministry, I’m slower to be spiritually flippant and quicker to run to Jesus for comfort. Steele has helped me keep this life’s suffering in perspective as I look forward to heaven’s joy. She has deepened my love for... Continue Reading
Liturgical Legos and Gospel Logic
Worship structured in the Word of God.
When worship is arranged by a biblical model of covenant renewal, these individual pieces are placed in the larger context of the Church’s experience of grace in the presence of God. No longer does the service seem to depend on the man up front or the congregation’s participation. “How was church today?” God met with... Continue Reading
Who Should Pray?
The gospel calls poor, lame, and blind sinners, those who are full of sin and putrefying spiritual sores, to come to Christ for healing—to Him who delights in showing mercy and love to miserable creatures.
We cannot deny man’s sinfulness, as revealed by God’s law; we are sinful, polluted, and an abomination in God’s sight. But we also must not deny God’s gospel; He delights to save sinners and encourages them to come to Him (John 6:37). Both these truths should not keep us from Jesus Christ, but direct us... Continue Reading
The Slow Death of the Christian West
How Paganism has Re-Emerged Through the Failure of the Church to Be Faithful
It begins with the Church recognizing first how pagan it has become, then rooting out our rotten structures and rebuilding them in the eyes of the Word and His word. We can’t hope to overturn the advances of Satan with a gospel that doesn’t even move those who already believe it. Our preaching must be... Continue Reading
Lessons From the Soviets about Sexual Morality
The experiment of abolishing marriage and family.
History is full of examples of societies that tamper with God’s design for marriage, sex, and the family. It’s no coincidence that en vogue progressive ideas today, ideas with distinct roots in cultural Marxism, also decry marriage and the family as oppressive institutions that should be reimagined and sexual morality as outdated and even harmful. The... Continue Reading
At the Center of All Things
For we understand that despite our differences, we are all bound together by the One who is the very center.
Christians are prone to take a relatively minor point of doctrine, one we might identify as second- or third-order, and set it like the earth at the pivot point of Ptolemy’s universe. Their love of this doctrine and their conviction that it is key to a right understanding and practice of the Christian faith means... Continue Reading
What Does it Mean to Become “One Flesh”
“Becoming one flesh” can be understood as the merging of two lives in such a covenant, implying a lifelong commitment and deep unity.
Beyond the physical aspect, many believe it refers to the deep emotional and spiritual bond that forms between a married couple. This bond is characterized by love, trust, understanding, and a shared life. This bond is only realized through the radical transparency that a married couple has, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, a man... Continue Reading
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