The message to all employees is perfectly clear: You are expected to fall into line with the approved and required thinking. Nothing short of assent is acceptable. Silent dissent will no longer be permitted. — Anonymous Employee at Chase Bank
Blog Archives
Audio: The Gospel And Union With Christ
In 2007 several of us spoke at a conference in Ponte Vedra, FL organized around theme of the Gospel-Driven Life. This is the first of two talks I gave. I’ll post the other later. This talk was on the gospel and union . . . Continue reading →
We Never Graduate
I don’t think Paul is saying that he doesn’t offer his members unto righteousness or that he doesn’t make efforts to resist sin and obey God’s law. Could it be it’s just that he (we) never graduated from needing the sufficiency of . . . Continue reading →
The Babylonian Captivity Of The Papacy
On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI abdicated the papacy. Six days later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit priest and archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected by the College of Cardinals and installed as Pope Francis I, bringing to a conclusion a remarkable series . . . Continue reading →
Your God Is Too Small (To Reach Millennials)
Chasing coolness won’t work. In my experience, churches that try to be cool end up with a pathetic facsimile of what was cool about 10 years ago. And if you’ve got a congregation of businessmen and soccer moms, donning a hip veneer . . . Continue reading →
Is The Christian Life More Like Colorado Or Nebraska?
For most of my conscious life I have listened to other Americans complain about having to drive across Nebraska on I-80. As soon I tell non-Nebraskans that I am a Cornhusker they have two comments: 1. Your football team isn’t what it . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On The Danger Of Abusing The Lord’s Table
29. He who shall eat unworthily, eateth judgment to himself. He had previously pointed out in express terms the heinousness of the crime, when he said that those who should eat unworthily would be guilty of the body and blood of the . . . Continue reading →
A Reformed Church Plant Initiative In Richmond, VA
Boston: Ministers Are Fishers Of Men
III. Ministers are fishers by office; they are catchers of the souls of men, sent “to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” Acts 26:18. Preachers of . . . Continue reading →
URCNA Synod Escondido 2001 On Creation
Synod affirms that Scripture teaches, as summarized by the Creeds and the Three Forms of Unity: The authority and perspicuity of Scripture (Belgic Confession V; Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day VII). Necessity and sufficiency of Scripture (Belgic Confession VII; Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Ministry And Mission
What happens to WSC students after they graduate? Most of them go on to become pastors in confessional Presbyterian and Reformed congregations. Most of them spend the rest of their lives in faithful service to Christ, preaching the gospel, administering the sacraments, . . . Continue reading →
Calvin’s Self-Identification As Lutheran
You can see, reader, that the man is pulled both this way and that. He wants to appear to be opening a battle against the whole party of the Lutherans, not against any individual member of it. But he cannot attack us . . . Continue reading →
Worthy Of The Gospel
In our proper desire to see Christians grow in sanctity (holiness) Christians have often succombed to the temptation to encourage sanctity by making justification or deliverance from the judgment to come contingent upon our degree of sanctity. The great difficulty with this scheme, . . . Continue reading →
Being “Nicea” And Leaving Church
Two recent podcast episodes that I found helpful on two topics about which I’ve been giving some thought: millennials and niceness. The first is Theology You Should Know with my friends Jared Beaird and Dan Borvan. Both have written for the HB. . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Offer Is Common But Faith Is Not
Let us remember, on the other hand, that while life is promised universally to all who believe in Christ, still faith is not common to all. For Christ is made known and held out to the view of all, but the elect . . . Continue reading →
Independence And The Practice Of The Faith
On Independence Day 2014 we should remember that one of the principal concerns of the founders of the Republic was the freedom not only to assemble for public worship but also to practice one’s religion. Since the so-called (and self-described) Enlightenment of . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: The Unmerited Love Of God Is The Source Of Our Salvation
16. For God so loved the world. Christ opens up the first cause, and, as it were, the source of our salvation, and he does so, that no doubt may remain; for our minds cannot find calm repose, until we arrive at . . . Continue reading →
CH527 Ecclesiastical Latin I
—Academic Goals: By the end of the semester the student shall be able read Latin at an introductory level, i.e., shall recognize and analyze elementary vocabulary and forms and shall be able to recognize, analyze, and translate elementary Latin sentences. —Pastoral Goals: . . . Continue reading →
Ashamed Of The Tents Of Shem?
There are many today who are tired of singing the Bible Psalms in the worship of God. This has various reasons, no doubt. Some are tired of singing the Psalms because they are not willing to bear the cross of being different . . . Continue reading →
The Geography Of Sin
Researchers at Kansas State University have created a map of the prevalence of the Seven Deadly Sins (envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath) across the USA through statistical analysis (HT: John Bales). A writer from the Las Vegas Sun gives . . . Continue reading →