What’s foundational to the covenants? Law or grace? John Murray’s answer: The succession of covenants in the Bible was a sovereign administration of grace and promise (this includes the Mosaic covenant). Meredith Kline’s answer: Law rather than grace was foundational (including a works principle in the Mosaic covenant).   I want to outline and assess... Continue Reading

Clay Werner, a pastor in the PCA (Presbyterian Church of America), has been through the pastoral ringer and lived to write about it in his new book, On The Brink: Grace for the Burned-Out Pastor (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2014).  If you’re a pastor who feels overwhelmed with the workload, difficulties, disappointments, and hardships in the ministry, you’ll need... Continue Reading

“It’s a simple truth really, but one many of us miss. Children are a blessing. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, diapers, and school shoes, and college educations cost a lot, but none of that changes the fact that God sees children as a blessing. Does the Bible call a fat savings account or total financial... Continue Reading

“Your time is much like your money: if you want to be generous with it, you must get organized.  Take a given week for example.  If you neglect to plan how you will use your time each day, you will most likely waste a lot of precious minutes (which add up to hours and days... Continue Reading

Like many Anglicans, including evangelical luminaries such as George Whitefield, Le Jau was sensitive to the particulars of slave mistreatment, but did not see chattel slavery’s inherent indignity. Thus, some of the most evangelistically-minded Christians of the eighteenth century bolstered the institution of slavery.   I recently read Travis Glasson’s excellent book Mastering Christianity: Missionary Anglicanism... Continue Reading

Chandler and Snetzer are very clear that sanctification – growing holy in heart and habit – is not what makes us God’s children, but exhibits that God has made us his. They rightly grasp that while justification is a 100% work of God, sanctification is a 100% work of God and 100% work of God’s... Continue Reading

Erotica is dangerous because it is a type of fantasy that manipulates moral and relational laws. “Right and wrong get morphed into a morally grey universe that becomes impossible to untwist (26).” And this this redefining of morality is no accident … . Erotic fantasy is unreal, deceptive, and it makes you want more. But... Continue Reading

“Although our justification will be fully declared on the last day (our good works also being brought forward as the sign and proof of its truth, Mt. 25:34-40), still falsely would anyone maintain from this a twofold gospel justification – one from faith in this life (which is the first); the other (and second) from... Continue Reading

This is an app that you can buy and download on your phone or iPad to doctor all your pictures. You know, make it look like you don’t have any freckles, pimples, or circles under your eyes. Heck, with the before and after shots, it looks like you can even add make-up, whiten your teeth,... Continue Reading

In reading through this book, I am thinking about the life of Schaeffer, the Christian life in general, and the irony of how “countercultural spirituality” is a challenge to live according to the reality of God. Indeed, the gospel is real, and that changes everything.   I’ve been looking forward to taking Bill Edgar’s Schaeffer on... Continue Reading