My village had two churches, the Anglican parish church and the Baptist chapel. In the nineteenth century, both were central to village life. The current primary (elementary) school was founded by the Baptists in the nineteenth century when their children were effectively . . . Continue reading →
HeidelQuotes
Luther On The First Commandment
You shall have no other gods. 1 What this means: You shall have Me alone as your God. What is the meaning of this, and how is it to be understood? What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: That Adam Was A Type of Christ Implies Federal Theology
Adam was a typos of the Coming One. This first example vividly illustrates the similarity and dissimilarity between type and fulfillment that characterizes biblical typology. The similarity between Adam and Christ is that each acts as a covenantal representative whose response to . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: To Follow Paul We Must Preach Christ
The third point is the end of Paul’s conversion, in these words: “that he might preach him among the Gentiles.” [Gal. 1:16] Here I consider what he must preach, namely the Son, Christ. And to whom? Namely, among the nations. Again of . . . Continue reading →
Calvin’s Prayer After The Sermon
Almighty God and heavenly Father, You have promised to hear and answer our requests which we make to you in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We are further taught by Him and His apostles to gather together . . . Continue reading →
Trueman On Queer Imperialism
The anti-Western left has been exposed for its sexual imperialism over the last few months. Evidence is all around. American Muslims have led protests against the imposition of LGBTQ policies and curricula in schools, leaving American progressives uncomfortably caught between two pillars . . . Continue reading →
Luther: “Do This And Live” Is Ironic
For he who does them shall live by them . . . I take this passage as a general statement, like that saying of Christ (Luke 10:28): “Do this, and you will live,” so that it is a kind of irony or . . . Continue reading →
God’s Hand Rests On Us Lightly
One doesn’t have to look far to finds tracts and treatises of past theologians who wrote about God’s use of calamity and destruction to awaken people to repentance. I have in front of me David Clarkson’s, “God’s End in Sending Calamities.” People . . . Continue reading →
Bavinck Taught The Reformed Order Of Salvation
All the rich benefits which Christ gives to His believers on earth receive their fulfillment and their crown in the glorification which accrues to them in part upon death but only in its fulness after the day of judgment. But this benefit . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel Is Not National
It seems the Christian Nationalist project overburdens and spins Matthew 28: 19 & 20 much like the for-the-city transformationalist crowd does with Jeremiah 29:7: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the . . . Continue reading →
Gillespie Against Theonomy
It will be asked, “But how does it appear that these or any other judicial laws of Moses do at all appertain to us, as rules to guide us in like cases?” I shall wish him who scruples this, to read Piscator’s appendix . . . Continue reading →
The Reformed Agree With Luther
As I have said, therefore, the statement of Moses, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things, etc.,” is not contrary to Paul’s declaration that all who rely on works of the Law are under a curse. For Moses demands . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: The Seeker-Sensitive Clown Show
At the heart of the Saddleback project is the idea of seeker sensitivity, of making the church a relaxed and comfortable place for outsiders. The underlying motivation is no doubt a good one. We do not want churches to be unfriendly and . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: We Need A Stance More Than A Method
In order to read and preach the Bible as Peter and Paul and the preacher to the Hebrews did, what we need is not a foolproof step-by-step procedure to follow; rather, it is a way of viewing the Scripture and its witness . . . Continue reading →
How To Pastor In A Small Town
How do you pastor a small-town church? I’ve read books about ministering in the city or among the poor. But what about the middle-class rural communities where many pastors serve? Where’s the wisdom for pastoring those churches? I’ve pastored a small village . . . Continue reading →
Luther: Only Christ Is The Savior
Therefore all hypocrites and idolaters try to do the works that properly pertain to the Deity and belong completely and solely to Christ. They do not actually say with their mouths: “I am God; I am Christ.” Yet in fact they arrogate . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: We Can Learn To Interpret The Bible The Way The Apostles Did
The epistle to the Hebrews, our one New Testament example of apostolic preaching addressed to an established congregation, illustrates the integration of Christ-centered biblical interpretation with hearer-contoured communication and application. Its exhortation to enduring faith, expressed in the sacrifices of good deeds . . . Continue reading →
Recovering The Realism Of Natural Law
The Christian natural law tradition offers Christians meaningful and coherent moral guidance apart from instrumental calculations of political power and success. That is, the tradition is moral, not consequentialist or ad hoc. Moreover, rooted in a creational theology, it provides important pathways for a . . . Continue reading →
Thirty Million
. . . By the estimation of leading religious demographers, over thirty million Christians perished under atheist regimes in the twentieth century. Tell this to friends who might insouciantly associate “secularism” with deliverance from religious violence. Tell this, too, to American history . . . Continue reading →
Piper Is Wrong. Luther Is Right.
I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. John 6:47 One could preach a hundred thousand years about these words and emphasize them again and again. Yes, one can’t speak enough about these words. Here Christ explicitly promises eternal . . . Continue reading →