Brakel goes on to rebuke those who are lazy and not diligent and closes the discussion with an exhortation for Christians to be diligent.  Why be diligent?  1) Because it is God’s command (1 Thess. 4:11-12, 2 Thess. 3:11-12), 2) Because diligence is an ornament to the Christian and to the church of God, 3)... Continue Reading

What this helped me to see is that Luther himself was not the cause of what might be considered antinomian thought. Rather, a misapplication of his thought and an over-emphasis on his earlier writings can, but doesn’t have to, lead in that direction. As a result of reading Trueman’s book, I have a much higher... Continue Reading

As I’ve said many times before, the Sexual Revolution can’t keep its promises. The breakdown of families doesn’t bring the liberation some think. Those of us who believe in the old ways need to nourish these habits and practices, not only in obedience to God and not only for our own flourishing, but for the... Continue Reading

One thing that many who are plagued by fear will like about this book is that Trillia uses the testimonies of others to God’s faithfulness in the midst of great personal trial. These testimonies don’t end all tied up in a fearless bow either. I think that Trillia wanted to really send the message  that... Continue Reading

Psalm 146, from which this hymn, Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul, is taken, highlights the delightful and hopeful side of spiritual experience: God is to be praised because he is utterly trustworthy, faithful, powerful, compassionate, and just. The psalm begins and ends with “Hallelu Yah!” “Praise Jehovah!” The main body of the psalm encourages us... Continue Reading

I feel like a lot of people who want to hold these, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, but they don’t realize the implications of orthodoxy for orthopraxy. It’s like these are two independently settled categories that we can think about separately. You’ve got to think about them together. … You say, “I’m in this cultural moment, what... Continue Reading

If you say that the particular forms of “Christian nationalism” date from the 1950s, fine – as Kruse says, the “ceremonies and slogans.” But to say, as Lehmann suggests, that the underlying ideology was novel in that era is absurd. To appreciate that, think about the inconceivably vast literature over the previous two hundred years... Continue Reading

“Of course, not every musician who leads congregational singing should or will be a pastor. But if you hope to join a church staff some day, I want to suggest six reasons why preparing to be a pastor who’s also a musician is better than simply aiming to be a worship leader.”   In 2008, I suggested in Worship Matters... Continue Reading

The logic and flow of Warfield’s argument are powerful and weighty.  He builds such momentum towards Particularism (Calvinism), that even at an early point in the book the reader gets the sense that it is an inevitability.  All the biblical and theological arrows are pointing in the same direction.   The critical question that every... Continue Reading

Meade begins with a case for what our kids need more than anything else—the truth! Our children are theologians too. We want them to be good ones, because it is imperative that they know God rightly. And Meade urges us, “Our kids really can’t believe truth that they do not know” (31).    I have... Continue Reading