UPDATE: Here is the audio from Thursday’s chapel message on John 1:1-3. § One of the things I learned from reading Ned Stonehouse was to ask the question: what does this narrative/passage/text say? In our defense of the essential unity of Holy . . . Continue reading →
One of my favorite radio programs is This American Life starring Ira Glass. I stumbled across this show several years ago, and for a while I did not understand why I was so attracted to it. Glass does not have a classic “radio voice” . . . Continue reading →
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, . . . Continue reading →
One of the dirtiest little secrets about preaching is that many preachers are using what we used to call in radio “a service.” There are, or at least there used to be, businesses that sell jokes and one liners and gags and . . . Continue reading →
This video combines two of my favorite topics: The Nebraska Cornhuskers and good story telling. Can you identify what makes this effective?
As a follow-up to the post on legal preaching Chris Gordon and I sat down in the Abounding Grace Radio studio to talk through the issue of the attraction of legal preaching. Once again, neither the post nor the episode is a . . . Continue reading →
The basic principle in application is to know whether the passage is a statement of the law or of the gospel. For when the Word is preached, the law and the gospel operate differently. The law exposes the disease of sin, and . . . Continue reading →
A legal preacher is a preacher who majors in the law to the neglect of the gospel. In practice, he preaches nothing but law. Continue reading →
The uniqueness and centrality of the official preaching of the Word is diminished when we equivocate between the official, public, ordained administration of the Word and the unofficial witness to the gospel by the laity. The tendency among evangelical is to describe all . . . Continue reading →
Time was that church historians also taught church polity and what is sometimes called pastoral theology. This was, I suppose, because we used to recognize that the study of the history of the practice of the church gives a certain insight into . . . Continue reading →
We’ve been blessed by the ministry of pastor Chris Gordon at Escondido URC. He’s also the proprietor of the Gordian Knot and the host of the Abounding Grace Radio program, currently broadcast in the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix, and San Diego. Recently, he . . . Continue reading →
The time after Christmas, including, in some places Boxing Day—for which different etymologies have been given—is a time for writing thank you notes. The Apostle Paul also wrote a thank you letter and the Spirit of God preserved it for us in . . . Continue reading →
The Rev. Mr. David Strain spoke again this morning to the students and faculty from Colossians 1–2. This time the focus was on the relations between proclaiming, warning, and instructing in preaching. It has been a great joy to have David on . . . Continue reading →
In this episode Office Hours talks with Dr Dennis Johnson, author of Him We Proclaim, about what it means (and doesn’t mean) to to preach Christ from all of Scripture. Don’t forget: We need you to call 760-480-8477 with your question for . . . Continue reading →
The Rev Dr Derke Bergsma is a minister of God’s Word. That isn’t just an office he holds but it is what he is, sola gratia. By definition, a minister is a servant of God’s Word, he only announces what God’s Word . . . Continue reading →
A giant violation of the second commandment (that’s the one forbidding visible representations of God) burned to the ground yesterday near Cincinnati, OH after being struck by lightening (HT: Brad Lindvall).
Thanks to WSC student Brenden Link for the latest installment in the WSC video series. This episode features WSC MDiv student Jon Bushnell (class of 2011). Check out our Youtube channel.
Office Hours this month talks with Dr Dennis Johnson, Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. Dennis is one of the original faculty members at WSC and has taught New Testament as well Practical Theology and served as Academic Dean for . . . Continue reading →
Brian Cochran has a helpful post on this. Thanks to Kim for the term “Golawspel.” There’s a lot of that going around these days.