Are Cessationists Dinitarians?
Cessationists have put out some of the thickest and richest books on the Holy Spirit
“So, if cessationists reject a charismatic pneumatology, is there anything remaining to believe about the Holy Spirit? If so, what do they believe about him? Far from being dinitarians who do not believe in the Spirit, here are 20 things cessationists affirm.” The claim is heard often these days. It usually goes something like... Continue Reading
7 Powerful Steps To Overcoming Regret
God does not want us to be paralyzed by regret
“Though we all have done things we can regret, God doesn’t want regret to rob us of our joy in him or cripple us in our glorious pursuit of him. Here are seven keys to overcoming regret.” Most of us have to deal with regret from time to time. Sins we committed in the... Continue Reading
Can Christians Pray the Imprecations of Psalm 69?
Psalm 69 cannot conflict with New Testament religion because it is often quoted in the New Testament
“Someone may still suggest that whatever use the rest of the psalm may be to the Christian, the imprecations are foreign to us. But the New Testament contradicts this suggestion too. The imprecations themselves are quoted to explain Christian experience.” Psalm 69 presents familiar elements of lament and praise, but in a particularly pointed and... Continue Reading
Reformed Piety and Practice
History tells us that there is a monk within each of us, continually looking for new ways to corrupt Christian piety, seeking to draw our eyes away from Christ, His grace, and His piety.
By the late seventeenth century, however, there were those who were discontented with Reformation piety. They worried about nominalism in state churches and longed for an immediate experience of the risen Christ. Led by the Lutheran Philip Jacob Spener (1635–1705) and others, the Pietists favored small-group prayer meetings (conventicles) over Word and sacrament ministry. They... Continue Reading
Identity, Affinity and Christ
So many of the controversies surrounding the church at present center on concepts related to identity and affinity
A tangible loss of real spiritual joy will always accompany our misplaced quests for identity and affinity. There is a deep-seated joy that flows from realizing the newness of life that we have in Christ in the Gospel. So much of what we read or hear online today lacks this sense of Gospel joy. When... Continue Reading
Always Ask What They Mean by “God”
It is my experience that many people don’t believe in God because they have the wrong conception of God.
Once we begin to grasp the nature of God, we are ready to investigate whether or not that God exists. My concern is that many skip the investigation because of a misconception about God they started with. If you don’t know what you are looking for, you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t find it.... Continue Reading
Four Tools to Help You Understand the Hard Sayings of the Bible
Drawing upon the Reformers’ insights, here are four handy hermeneutical tools to help you “rightly divide” the hard sayings of the Bible
One of the reasons why we sweat over getting the hard sayings of the Bible right is because we believe, like Peter, that they hold the words of eternal life. In many ways, wrestling with these hard sayings is a quintessentially evangelical occupation. Since we believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, we... Continue Reading
Why We Can Trust God’s Promises
If he has said it, he will do it. If he has spoken it, he will fulfill it. He’s not messing around with your life.
I want to know all God’s promised. I want to know what I can pray for. What I can count on. What to hang my hope on when everything around looks bleak. If we drift from reading God’s word, our faith will wane, our prayer life will wane, our joy will wane and our hope... Continue Reading
Scripture: God-breathed and God-breathing
In our Reformed zeal to safeguard the church from the excesses of Charismatic and Pentecostal views of revelation and inspiration we may well have robbed ourselves of an appreciation of its livingness
The Bible is not the living word merely because it is the ‘sword of the Spirit [who is the Lord and giver of life]’ (Eph 6.17), but in its very essence is animated by the breath of God that is inexhaustible. We may be able to breath out continuously for so long, but eventually must... Continue Reading
A Minister of Mercy
Oh that they might see a true reflection of the steadfast covenant kindness of God whose Name is Pity
“Pray for mercy in your head, mercy in your heart, mercy as a parent, mercy with your spouse, mercy in your session, mercy in the flock, mercy in your outreach, mercy in your speech, mercy in your giving, mercy with the poor, mercy with the sinner – let your life be a sponge soaked in... Continue Reading