Love means protecting the defenseless. God teaches that life is his gift. He commands us to preserve not only our own lives but also the lives of others, and he has appointed government authorities in part for this purpose by means of . . . Continue reading →
Your Picture Of Jesus Is Inherently Idolatrous
Over the years as a pastor, I have been asked why making an image of Jesus is wrong. In fact, I have been frequently criticized for my position that making images of Jesus is forbidden in the second commandment. I have come . . . Continue reading →
Pray Especially For The Little Ones
A Christian friend in Tel Aviv writes to say, Continue reading
Zeno’s Porch Is Not Solomon’s
I am puzzled by the assertion that, in order to hold to ecumenical truth (e.g., the eternal generation of the Son), one must be a Platonist. Continue reading
Heidelcast 181: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (24)—We Are Pilgrims Under Christ’s Lordship
With this episode we have almost reached the end of 1 Peter and in our passage (1 Pet 5:6–11) Peter turns again to one of his major themes: the Christian’s pilgrimage to the heavenly city under the Lordship of Christ. This passage, . . . Continue reading →
The Lord’s Supper Is Not Penance
In our course on the Reformed Confessions the end of the semester brings us near the end of the Belgic Confession, to article 35 on the Lord’s Supper. It is a marvelous confession of what God’s Word teaches us about the nature . . . Continue reading →
Trueman: The Psalms Are Better For What Ails Us Than Critical Race Theory
Does critical race theory contain some truths? Yes. Neil Shenvi recently pointed this out. Does it offer helpful insights that cannot be better found elsewhere? I have yet to see any. Indeed, I consider the Psalter itself to offer a far better . . . Continue reading →
Calvin A Cousin To Dispensationalism?
This striking passage occurs in an essay published on the Aquila Report today: Continue reading
P&R Polity Is Not Perfect But It Is Preferable To The Others
In the last few weeks there has been published, on social media, some fairly stinging comments about the problems inherent with way confessional Presbyterian and Reformed (hereafter P&R) churches govern themselves. These comments seem mainly to born of frustration with the way . . . Continue reading →
Who Gets To Criticize Machen?
I was thinking about Machen as I was listening Mike and Steve on NoCo Radio discussing the new collection of Machen’s radio addresses, Things Unseen. Continue reading
Gouge: In The Order Of The Application Of Redemption Justification Precedes Sanctification
Justification in order goeth before sanctification…Sanctification presupposeth justification: they who are sanctified may rest upon it, that they are cleansed and justified. For sanctification is a fruit of justification…Admirable is the comfort, which the Saints in this world reap hereby. For their . . . Continue reading →
In The Law-Court Of God The Christian Is Accounted Righteous Only On The Ground Of Christ’s Righteousness Imputed
In the law-court of God, then, the justification of man as sinner is the judgment of God whereby He pronounces righteous the person who is unholy and of himself a sinner subject to God’s wrath. He does so out of his own . . . Continue reading →
A Word Of Encouragement For Pastors
Mondays can be difficult days for pastors. My seminary did not hold classes on Mondays so that students and professors, who were filling pulpits on the Sabbath, would not have to travel on the Sabbath. The idea was (and remains) that they . . . Continue reading →
The Ministers Of London On The Validity Of Roman Catholic Baptisms (1647)
CONSIDERATION TWO. That though a ministerial succession should be granted to be drawn through the Church of Rome, and that from the days of the first apostasy in that church to the times of Protestant Reformation, yet thereby the truth of that . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 180: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (23): Serving Under The Chief Shepherd
This is episode 23 in the series, As It Was in the days of Noah. We have two items of business before we turn to our passage for the episode (1 Peter 5:1–5): (1) To say thanks to Jack Miller, sometime HB . . . Continue reading →
Perkins: Your Good Works Are All Imperfect And Mixed With Corruption
The child of God is like a lame man that goes the right way, but yet halts at every step. Abraham and Sarah desire issue, that is from the Spirit; but they desire issue by Hagar their handmaid, that is from the . . . Continue reading →
New Resource Page: On Covid And Religious Liberty
The Covid crisis has been one of the greater challenges faced by the church in the West in recent years. In the USA and elsewhere it has divided congregations and probed weaknesses in our theology, piety, and practice. It has raised questions . . . Continue reading →
Another Way To Find A Confessional Reformed Church In North America
It can be difficult to locate a confessional Reformed congregation in North America since, for most of the continent (outside of the Southeast USA, Grand Rapids, Philadelphia, and Ontario, Canada) they can be difficult to find. Someone has already made a Google . . . Continue reading →
Recovering A Vital Truth About Preaching: It Is God’s Ordained Means To Bring Sinners To Faith
…One of the most helpful things ever written on the question of faithfulness and effectiveness in preaching comes from the “Directory of Public Worship” published and authorized in 1645 by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster and subsequently adopted by the General . . . Continue reading →
William Perkins On Nicodemism
“First, among the Gentiles at Antioch, he uses Christian liberty in eating things forbidden by the ceremonial law. Yet after the coming of certain Jews from Jerusalem, he separates himself from the Gentiles and plays the Jew among the Jews. Like to . . . Continue reading →