Peter’s Deliverance and Herod’s Judgment Echo the First Passover
Not only was Herod not a god, but he was also not even the sovereign ruler of his own kingdom. God in his sovereignty rules all things, including persecution and deliverance from persecution.
On the appointed day, Herod appeared before the people of Tyre and Sidon in all his royal splendor and delivered an eloquent speech (Acts 12:21). The Jewish historian Josephus noted that he wore a robe of silver, designed to sparkle in the sun.2 Impressed by this display, the people of Tyre and Sidon credited him... Continue Reading
Legacy Tree
Tucked away in a draw on our Montana property stands a Douglas fir that a forester estimated to be more than six hundred years old.
Jesus told us to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. He pointed to ordinary things that people passed every day and used them to reveal extraordinary truths about His Father’s care. Standing beneath this old fir, I’ve begun to wonder whether that invitation extends farther than flowers and sparrows.... Continue Reading
Lessons About Marriage from the Dance Floor
During my sabbatical my wife and I took ballroom dance lessons. I never expected they would become one of the clearest illustrations of God's beautiful design for marriage.
No one watching an accomplished couple would conclude that the dancers are interchangeable. Their movements are different precisely because they are dancing together. Their differences do not diminish the dance; they create it. Scripture presents marriage in much the same way. Men and women possess equal dignity because both bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27), yet... Continue Reading
What About the Awkward Psalms?
Plead for the revival of the unjust.
We should desire all people to ‘serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling’ lest the Son’s wrath be kindled against them (Psa. 2:11, 12). Therefore, it is right to apply such prayers to the enemies of the church today. Jesus promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her (Matt. 16:18).... Continue Reading
Many Members, One Body: Gifts and Love in the Church
Whatever the gift might be—teaching, administration, and so on—all must be exercised to grow the body in mutual love.
The diversity of body parts is not detrimental to the body as a whole—it’s essential to it. What makes a body a body is the unity of the diversity. The same is true in the church: What makes it the church is the part you play. Your feeling like you have a part to play... Continue Reading
2. Why Reformed Pastors May Be More Subject to Depression than Others
Our job is to keep fighting while engaged in the long retreat of life.
We are all in a form of retreat while we are in these earthly frames. Our bodies and minds, and sometimes our resolve, weakens. In Scripture, we see godly men like Moses or David or Peter fall into sin late in life. We should not think that our doctrine of progressive sanctification makes us immune... Continue Reading
Reputation vs Reality: The Church in Sardis
Façades won’t furnish faith.
So many saints in name only hear the Word of Christ through the Spirit of Christ Sunday after Sunday. The way forward is back: Return to those very words, and believe! There’s power in the words. There’s life, real life, not reputation-only life, in those words. By the grace of the Spirit, we have these... Continue Reading
Book Review: A Sight Never to be Forgotten: Eyewitness Accounts from Union Chaplains at Gettysburg
Hale’s book offers an impressive array of primary resources. No student of the battle or chaplains today can reasonably do without it.
Hale makes a valid case that “chaplains perceived and interpreted” the battle of Gettysburg differently from other participants. Unlike the combatants, “whose focus was limited to killing the enemy directly in their front,” chaplains sometimes stood just behind the battle lines of their regiments, granting them “a wide-angle view.” Others stationed further to the rear... Continue Reading
Something Rotten in the Church?
Reflections on a revealing response.
In my church there are people who think that there should be women elders. There are also people who are not Presbyterian and haven’t a clue what an elder is. I am happy to care for and pastor those who disagree with my view on this – it is not a first order issue. As... Continue Reading
God Believes In Rest. Do You?
Rest to establish in your own mind and others’, that you are not infinite, but finite, and that God made you for rest in just the same way he made you for work.
Do we really need to fill our rest full of “holy” activities for it to be meaningful to the Lord? Is a good holiday the one that leaves us practically burnt out after serving the Lord so hard? Is a good Sunday necessarily the most active Sunday? I see no evidence for this in the... Continue Reading
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