There are some who understand the promises of Jeremiah 31 to be realized entirely in the future. There are reasons, however, why this is not the best way to understand Jeremiah 31. First, as we have already seen, each of these benefits was already promised under the covenant of grace to Abraham. Continue reading →
Up to chapter four, Gordon has focused on the form of preaching. But at this point he turns to questions of content. He says, “In addition to the cultural matters that have concerned me throughout, I also believe that preaching today fails . . . Continue reading →
Regular readers of this space will know that evangelical elements of the Anglican tradition have played a significant role in my spiritual development. As a very young Christian the first piece of Christian literature of any substance that I read was John . . . Continue reading →
Having looked at Jeremiah 31 in the last part, we now turn to specific New Testament passages that shape our understanding of the new covenant as essentially a new administration of the Abrahamic covenant. 2 Corinthians 3 The New Testament view of . . . Continue reading →
I am a fan of T. David Gordon. He writes well. He speaks plainly. He does not mince words. With some writers, it is quite possible for five people to read them and come away with five different conclusions about what the . . . Continue reading →
In the first part of this essay I sketched three different approaches to preaching, offered an alternative, and then gave a provisional template for sermons. The principal goal of the essay is to encourage preachers to be faithful to the text, which . . . Continue reading →
The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem just as the Lord warned. Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. . . . Continue reading →
Arguably two of the issues that separate confessional Reformed folk from their Baptist friends are the Sabbath and baptism. For many Baptists (but not all—there are confessional Baptists who agree with the Reformed on the Sabbath) it is a given that the . . . Continue reading →
The contemporary use of the word community has troubled me for some time. I could not put my finger on it until today. It came to me during a drive across the vast wasteland that is Nevada. People routinely speak about the . . . Continue reading →
When Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) was born, the printing press was about fifteen years old. Paul II was Pope. Frederick III was Holy Roman Emperor. What we think of today as the Netherlands was ruled by the House of Burgundy. Luther would not . . . Continue reading →
Apparently a bizarre and unforeseen tornado struck Minneapolis. According to this post by John Piper, it hit an ELCA (mainline) Lutheran Church just as they were about to consider ecclesiastical policy regarding homosexuality. Continue reading →
In the public sphere, for example in online publications and on social media, one sees two extremes regarding women in the church generally: let us call the first the “make me a sammich” crowd. Continue reading →
Like watching paint dry. Continue reading →
The Heidelberg Reformation Association presents the first ever translation of a brief work on the Lord’s Supper by Zacharias Ursinus and translated by Dr Lee Irons. Continue reading →
We sit in church week after week and, if we are blessed, twice a week, for corporate worship. One of the most important elements of that holy assembly of the Christ-Confessing covenant people is the preaching of the Word. Yet, were we . . . Continue reading →
Americans love a comeback story. Americans also love magic. Sometimes the two converge, as they did in the Ted Williams story. He was a radio announcer with a great voice, who became a drunk and a drug addict. He was on the . . . Continue reading →
In the last month, we have witnessed the death of one pope and the election of another, and as typically happened, we saw reporters speaking in solemn tones about the unbroken line of succession from Peter to Leo XIV. Also, recent months . . . Continue reading →
Planet Money is an interesting and usually fair-minded (they talk to Keynesians and to free-market capitalists) account of economic theory and the global economy. Their most recent podcast was a story about a Spanish savings bank called cajas de ahorros.1 It is . . . Continue reading →
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When the strongest criticism I can make of a book is that the author used an obscure word (complexify, 45) that says something about the strength of a work.1 Let me say at the outset, I really like this book. This is . . . Continue reading →
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their . . . Continue reading →
