Basil’s personal devotion to living a life according to the Scriptures, to living a monastic life, informed not only his handling of doctrinal division, but also his engagement with the wider culture as well as the Christians in his own congregation. One very obvious point here is that Basil’s dedication to Scripture was one of... Continue Reading

Miller trained the students through his regular lectures, his copious writings (including a manual on preaching), and his sermons[9]. To him, preaching was a spiritual calling that an ordained pastor could never put aside in this life. His commitment to remain faithful to this calling and never merge his office “as a minister of the... Continue Reading

Wilson’s segregationist policies make him an especially inappropriate namesake for a public policy school. When a university names a school of public policy for a political leader, it inevitably suggests that the honoree is a model for students who study at the school. This searing moment in American history has made clear that Wilson’s racism... Continue Reading

A poet at heart, Davies continued to write poems throughout his ministry, both for his personal use and the encouragement of others. Some were turned into hymns, making him the earliest colonial hymn-writer. As other pastors at that time, he wrote some of these hymns to accompany his sermons. One of these, “Great God of... Continue Reading

Spurgeon did not shrink back from criticisms, but persevered in doing his best, looking to God, not man, for blessing. And God did bless his preaching beyond what he could have imagined. Reflecting on what God accomplished during his short two years, Spurgeon writes, “In a short time, the little thatched chapel was crammed, the... Continue Reading

We have in William Tyndale an example of a faithful servant who did not shrink from trying to better his conditions, yet he was nevertheless content to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ, if necessary. At length, however, we read of the translator’s true desire: “But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency... Continue Reading

To spur his congregation to consider the value of time, Edwards wrote two compelling sermons, one called, “The Preciousness of Time, and the Importance of Redeeming it,” and the other, “Procrastination, or, The Sin and Folly of Depending on Future Time.” Edwards understood that how we choose to spend our time reflects our desires and... Continue Reading

Calvin understood the absolute contrast between the sinfulness of man and the majesty of God, what theologians refer to as the Creator-creature distinction. In a typical lucid moment, the French reformer writes, “… Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.”... Continue Reading

The absence of Jesus from his confession must mean something. We all have implicit faith in something. Steingard has placed his implicit faith somewhere other than Jesus (one suspects that he locates it now in himself) and so Christ is absent from his account. God the Son became incarnate. He was born of the Virgin.... Continue Reading

The following year, he published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. It was not the first book of this kind, but it was unique in many ways. Using the marketing skills he had acquired in his career, Equiano chose to self-publish and to promote the book by finding a large... Continue Reading