Those times remain etched in my heart because an assailant at the Covenant School in Nashville shot and killed that custodian. I flew back to Tennessee to play for Mike Hill one last time – at his funeral. The opening hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, includes the line I often use in my prayers, “Strength... Continue Reading

Shepherding is challenging and rewarding—but it won’t bring you the rewards that are often coveted in this world. This is why proper motivation for ministry is so important. Its reward in this life is the joy of serving the One who died for you when you serve those he has entrusted to your care. Jesus’s... Continue Reading

We tend to focus a lot on what we are saying and relatively little about how we are saying it. Preachers can focus so much on their content that they fail to consider their communication. As others have said, we worry so much about getting the text right but think comparatively little about getting it... Continue Reading

Eventually becoming a Presbyterian as an adult, Jackson held firmly to the Providential view of God, noting that nothing occurred in life without God’s blessing, guidance, and will. We can argue that Providence further shaped Jackson into the man he became. The Lord molded Stonewall Jackson from his early childhood years. Of course, the man... Continue Reading

Some in Christendom resented Keller’s stumbled-upon celebrity. Others hailed him as the C.S. Lewis for a new generation. As for Keller, he stayed focused—there was a gospel to preach, cities to reach, souls to save. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer in June, 2020, he scarcely slowed, continuing to work, write, lead, and think—even... Continue Reading

His early death meant that he had no real opportunity to form and shape an organization to continue the more Calvinist part of the revival. Yet the power of his preaching to thousands, his proclamation of the new birth, his doctrinal depth and clarity, and his passion for the poor should leave us thankful to... Continue Reading

Briarwood Executive Pastor Bruce Stallings released this statement to AL.com: “It is with a deeply heavy heart that I communicate to you that our Lord has called Pastor Reeder home through a car accident. Please pray for Cindy, Jennifer, Ike, Abby and their entire family as well as our staff and church family as we... Continue Reading

There is much that the PCA can learn from J. Gresham Machen. But the two lessons surveyed above—to prioritize the gospel of Christ for its own sake and to express clearly one’s confessional convictions on pressing matters within the church and the world—rise to the top. Machen believed the first of these tasks was (and... Continue Reading

Owen’s defense of Reformed teachings such as definite (or limited) atonement, unconditional election, and the priority of the divine decree are particularly expressed through scholastic methodology. Owen provides a valuable model for those in the Reformed and Protestant tradition for how theology may be done with depth, insight, and profundity.   John Owen (1616-1683), sometimes... Continue Reading

What was true of my dear bride and Lloyd-Jones proves true of all of us. Our lives today will not be defined by our dreams, hopes, or expectations of what is to come (of what may never come) but will be defined by our faithful execution of the life and ministry God has given us... Continue Reading