Fishers of Men
My experience has shown me that the words are familiar to the church, but the actual work perhaps not so much.
Repair the net that is the church. In this same passage in Matthew 4, two other fishing brothers, James and John, are also called by Christ. When Jesus called them, they were “mending their nets” (Matt. 4:21). My mentor, Pastor Ken Smith, likes to point out that the word used here to describe these men repairing their nets... Continue Reading
Think on These Things
Joy in the Lord needs to be pursued intentionally
If anyone was a realist, the Apostle Paul was. He had no illusions about his circumstances. He was in prison. He fully expected to die a martyr’s death. He was deeply concerned that the believers in Asia minor would remain steadfast in the face of increasing persecution. But even in his incarcerated state, which would... Continue Reading
Should Pastors Today Still Care about the Reformation?
Why should busy pastors set aside valuable hours to read up on the Reformation, usually thought to have kicked off about five hundred years ago?
The Reformation is of central importance for understanding modern Western history. Three large-scale movements set the stage for the contemporary Western world: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Each of the three is complex, and scholars continue to debate many facets of each. Nevertheless, the raw claim for the pivotal role of these three... Continue Reading
Sola Scriptura: A Scripture-Alone Life
The issue of authority is the foundational issue of the Reformation.
God’s Word over us is the final authority. God’s Word under us is the foundation of promises. For either of these to be effective, we must have God’s Word in us. The Reformation exploded out of a desert of biblical truth. The people were starving for the gospel and God’s Word. That’s why translating the... Continue Reading
The Christian’s Duty to Hold Firm
It is the Christian’s duty to hold firm to the uniqueness of God and of His Christ
“In our day, where pluralism reigns in the culture, there is as much satirical hostility to the idea of one God as there was in Nietzsche’s satire. But today, that repugnance to monotheism is not a laughing matter. In the culture of pluralism, the chief virtue is toleration, which is the notion that all religious... Continue Reading
Before Calvin
What if critics of 2k had to think about the relationship between the church and magistrates before emperors got religion
“So long as a Protestant city council supports our guy, John Calvin, we forget about the problems of a religious magistrate? It’s our civil government. And so long as that Cadillac CTS that only gets 13.8 mpg is a comfortable ride to church, we forget about the price of gas or limits on fossil fuels?... Continue Reading
Why the Reformation Still Matters
None of the goodness or relevance of the Reformation’s insights have faded over the last five hundred years.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Europe had been without a Bible the people could read for something like a thousand years. Thomas Bilney had thus never encountered the words “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Instead of the Word of God, they were left to the understanding... Continue Reading
Idolatry at the Office: Confessions of a Workaholic
However noble our efforts may appear to the world, we labor in vain when we strive apart from God.
To someone scrambling for worth in the dark, the accolades were intoxicating. I soon guarded my professional identity as if it were a crust of bread during famine. I embraced a twisted asceticism that denied worldly comforts in favor of “doing the right thing.” During my second year of surgical residency, I totaled my... Continue Reading
Tota Scriptura
The issue that we face in our day is not merely the question of sola Scriptura but also the question of tota Scriptura, embracing the whole counsel of God
In this case, the Bible is reduced to the status where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. This is an issue that the church has to face in every generation, and it has reappeared today in some of the most surprising places. We’re finding, in seminaries that call themselves Reformed, professors... Continue Reading
The Piper Debate and the Federal Vision Controversy
One more time: The Federal Vision comes round again.
Never denying the Reformed doctrines of election, regeneration, and perseverance in the arena of God’s decrees, they chose to “move, live, and have their being” in the realm of the objective covenant. In the realm of the objective covenant, all those baptized are regenerated and justified, the elect can fall away, and the Last Judgment... Continue Reading