The ordo amoris isn’t a justification for cruelty, nor does it exempt us from loving strangers, enemies, etc. Loving your own is natural and necessary, but even tax collectors and sinners do that. Grace doesn’t destroy nature, and natural affection must be . . . Continue reading →
Christian Life
Fesko: When The Church Is Not Like Costco
It seems like far too many people treat relationships of all sorts as being disposable. As soon as they hit a rough patch of any sort they decide to pull up stakes, move on, and find a new relationship. This is especially . . . Continue reading →
Sibbes: Preaching Must Be Of Nothing But Christ
Preaching must be of Christ. Some may question, “But must nothing be preached but Christ?” Yes, nothing but Christ, or that which tends to Christ. Whatever is done in preaching to humble men, it is to raise them up again in Christ. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Ordinary Means Ordinary (10): Is Efficiency a Virtue in the Church?
Dr Clark continues the series “Ordinary Means Ordinary” Continue reading →
Christ Fulfilled The True Covenant Of Works
Christ fulfilled the true covenant of works by being born under the Mosaic law as the situation most resembling it. Mosaic typology thoroughly signified Christ’s obedience. Read more» Harrison Perkins | Reformed Covenant Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2024), 331. (HT: Reformed Dogmatika) . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Ordinary Means Ordinary (9): Strategic, Authentic, and Confessional (Part 3)
Dr Clark continues the series “Ordinary Means Ordinary” Continue reading →
Review: Michael Horton, Theology for Pilgrims on the Way
In Tolkien’s Two Towers Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas attack a white-clad old man, thinking him Saruman. Realizing their error, they apologize to Gandalf saying, “We thought you were Saruman.” Gandalf says, “I am Saruman, or rather Saruman as he should have been.” . . . Continue reading →
The Fruit Of The Spirit: The Seventh Fruit—Faithfulness (Part 2)
Once we have some understanding of God’s faithfulness, we can begin to think about what it means in our lives. The fruit of faithfulness is another one of those wonderful virtues that the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian’s life. The Spirit . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On The Temptation To Fuse Christianity With Pagan Power Religion
Some years ago I wrote a piece for First Things entitled “The Calvary Option.” It took its cue from the 2014 movie Calvary, which followed the last seven days in the life of a priest who knew that someone was planning to kill him. The . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Ordinary Means Ordinary (8): Strategic, Authentic, and Confessional (Part 2)
Dr Clark continues the series “Ordinary Means Ordinary” Continue reading →
Sibbes: Our Blessedness Is Communion With God
Man’s happiness is in communion with God. Before the fall of man, there was familiar conversation with God; but by the sin of our first parents, we lost this great happiness, and now we are strangers, and as contrary to God as . . . Continue reading →
How Baxter Came To Reject The Reformation Doctrine Of Salvation
To repeat my point, Owen could have had any number of authors in mind when he offered this extended critique, but it has to be said that Richard Baxter fitted the bill pretty well. In his first publication, the Aphorismes of Justification, published . . . Continue reading →
Why Carl Trueman Is Not A Roman Catholic
Speaking at the Leonine Forum in D.C. recently, I was asked a friendly but pointed question: “Why are you not a Catholic?” The questioner noted that in my talk I had expressed a love for the early Church Fathers, admiration for Thomas . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Ordinary Means Ordinary (7): Strategic, Authentic, and Confessional
Dr Clark continues the series “Ordinary Means Ordinary” Continue reading →
The HR Department, “Sclerotic Bureaucracies,” And Self-Censorship
Thanks in large part to the way judges have interpreted employment-discrimination statutes, a pervasive “human resources” industry long ago attached itself to nearly every aspect of American life outside the home. It enlists us all in its elaborate game of litigation-avoidance, demanding . . . Continue reading →
The Big Porn Lie
Easy Peasy helpfully describes how pornography deceives us. Pornography gives the illusion of help and benefit through the release of dopamine as someone searches for pornography. Notice I said “searches,” not “looks at.” The author distinguishes the experience of the hunt as more intoxicating than . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On Welby And Old Boy Networks
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, resigned on Tuesday after an investigation found he’d mishandled the John Smyth abuse scandal. The resignation is a shock but, for those aware of the story, not a surprise. One of the vices I developed as a . . . Continue reading →
On Calvin And Biblicism
Nearly half a century after R. T. Kendall published “Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649,” the debate of “Calvin versus the Calvinists” rages on. Kendall’s was not the first attempt at pointing out supposed discontinuity between Calvin and his successors, of course. . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Ordinary Means Ordinary (6): The Five Points of a Calvinist
Dr Clark continues the series “Ordinary Means Ordinary” Continue reading →
The Limits Of Patriotism
In my first church out of seminary, I preached a sermon in which I mentioned specific atrocities of the 20th century as illustrations of human sinfulness. After the service a man came up to me livid that I had singled out Nazi . . . Continue reading →