Just as it takes time for a planted seed to grow and develop into a full and thriving plant, it takes time for friendship and community to grow. Deep friendships are built over time and often through shared trials and challenges of life. The longer we walk with someone in our journey of faith, the... Continue Reading

I say this carefully.  Many have been unnecessarily wounded by well-meaning people who make the problem worse, not better.  Quoting Bible verses glibly to a person in pain or grief is certainly not helpful.  There is a time for prayers, physical presence, and silence.  But Alyssa did it right:  She already knew me very well,... Continue Reading

Well-meaning Christians sometimes mistake the Spirit’s work of illumination for revelation, which, unhappily, can lead to serious theological confusion and potentially unhappy practical consequences. But the doctrine of illumination also helps us explain some of the more mysterious elements in our experience without having to resort to the claim that we have the gift of... Continue Reading

“In the end, these three movements–traditionalism, individualism, existentialism–capture what Sola Scriptura was designed to prevent. And thus we see something that is perhaps surprising on this Reformation anniversary: one need not be Catholic to reject Sola Scriptura.”   Well, Oct 31st, 2017 is finally here.  All year long, churches and organizations around the world have... Continue Reading

Here this rich and divine bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil, and adorns her with all his goodness. Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ and swallowed up by him…as the bride in the Song of Solomon says [2:16], “My beloved is mine,... Continue Reading

Both “charts” appear to have the same goal—to give a pictorial representation of how God works in relation to salvation and damnation. They are single-page, visual representations of truths that would take an entire volume to expound; their diagrammatic form made them helpful for those with poor reading skills and perhaps even for some with... Continue Reading

In the face of suffering, why do we struggle to apply to ourselves the proclamation of the cross — that our God is good and trustworthy and will go to any length to secure what’s best for us (Romans 8:32)? Why does a gulf span the distance between our fear of suffering and the rock-solid... Continue Reading

However, God’s alarm very often works very slowly: sometimes so slowly and imperceptibly as to be at first unrecognised. Yet it is the same work as in the more sudden awakenings. Every person who is spiritually awakened is raised from the dead by God’s alarm, that is, God’s omnipotent and irresistible power being applied to... Continue Reading

It is the good tree that produces good fruit, not the other way round. We are not saved by works; we are saved for works. In fact we are God’s workmanship at work (Eph. 2:9–10)! Thus, rather than lead to a life of moral and spiritual indifference, the once-for-all work of Jesus Christ and the... Continue Reading

Turretin is valuable, then, for what he says about justification – his a robust biblical and theological defense and explanation of the doctrine. But he is equally valuable for how he says what he says. His method promotes both precision and balance. In our day, we need both at least as much as Turretin’s readers did in the... Continue Reading