But study Bibles also have shortcomings. In order to keep the size of the Bible within a reasonable scope (the ESV Study Bible really pushes the envelope here, at almost 2,800 pages) something has to give. Generally what is lost is commentary on the text itself. Comments on difficult passages are often the first to... Continue Reading

Watson goes on to say that in a legal sense no one can obey the law because of the fall and our sinful nature.  However, he notes, in a gospel sense we can obey the law.  “Gospel obedience consists in a real endeavor to observe the whole moral law (Ps. 119:166):”   Our triune God... Continue Reading

“This past year I have attempted to become more intentional with my reading. In previous years I have read a lot but I would not say that I read well. My reading lacked a detailed attack plan. As a result, sometimes reading happened and other times it did not.”   “How can I read more books?”... Continue Reading

This brings the authors to not only encourage Christians to return to God’s design, but to approach other sexual-sinners with humility, which may be what “our standing for truth needs” because none of us “lives up to the standards our faith demands.” If we do so, then, maybe “this posture of humility will gain the... Continue Reading

“It is for good reason that David McCullough has twice won the Pulitzer Prize. Few historians have his ability to recount history with such skill and verve. His latest, and perhaps final work, is a biography of the Wright brothers.”   I am a voracious and omnivorous reader. While necessity dictates that I focus much... Continue Reading

There is more to this discussion about duty (e.g. God’s enabling grace, motives, ends, etc.), but we shouldn’t shy away from having a sense of duty as Christians.  I have a Christian duty to love/care for my wife and children, to faithfully serve as a pastor to God’s people here, to regularly attend worship services,... Continue Reading

If you are looking for a good study for yourself or a group, I highly recommend Theological Fitness. There are even study questions that can be used in a small group setting. It may not popular these days to be serious about holiness and piety (not to be confused with pietism), but we are in a very... Continue Reading

“The reason that homosexual relationships make so much more sense to people today than in previous times is because they have absorbed late modern western culture’s narratives about the human life. Our society presses its members to believe “you have to be yourself,” that sexual desires are crucial to personal identity, that any curbing of... Continue Reading

Supposedly former Governor Tom Dewey once told Rockefeller, “I like you but I can’t afford you.” Across nearly sixteen years Rockefeller taxed, borrowed and spent, building highways, hospitals, schools, museums and an ever more expansive social welfare state. He had every confidence that few social problems could not be solved with enough funding and the... Continue Reading

We live in an age when about the only belief you’ll be frowned upon for having is one that doesn’t allow for complete diversity, in which everyone’s chosen ways lead to ultimate truth.  Their truth. …[Today,] tolerance swallows up truth.  So when your professor injects his or her brand of skeptical sarcasm into the discussion,... Continue Reading