Harrison Perkins

Bond And A Betrayal Culture

by on December 8, 2021 | 8 Comments

There are two problematic layers built into No Time to Die’s manipulative betrayal of Bond fans. The first, and arguably less substantive, is the film’s abandonment of the 007 formula. Movie critics have praised the decision to depart from the standard format of find the villain, defeat the villain, get the girl, get away with a dryly humorous quip. This praise, however, is precisely what reveals the elitist nature of the modern entertainment industry. There is a necessary question: If twenty-five movies (plus the novels and a few video games) have had immense commercial success for sixty years while abiding by the same formula, what suggests that the audience wants the films to depart from the formula? Quite obviously, it seems that we continue to pay money to watch Bond movies because we want the formula. If we wanted something else, we would see a different movie. Continue reading →

A Pastor’s Public Persona

by on April 5, 2022 | 2 Comments

In many ways, the pastor lives his life in front of his people. Apart from mega-church pastors who might choose to isolate themselves from the people they shepherd (which notably does not apply across the board to every pastor of a large . . . Continue reading →

Review: Estelle, The Primary Mission Of The Church (Mentor, 2022)

by on April 28, 2022

Western culture is ripping apart, to varying degrees depending on the country, over issues of social justice and cultural welfare. That increasing pressure has also often included the advocates of various social causes demanding assent from everyone else. This no exception approach to ideological uniformity has also often affected the church, as proponents of cultural issues impose their views upon us as another institution that must get in line with secular orthodoxy. Continue reading →

Piper’s New Book Is Edwardsian

by on May 6, 2022 | 16 Comments

The major—and expected—exception is Jonathan Edwards, whose view of faith no doubt stands behind Piper’s approach to this issue. Edwards believed that love is at the heart of faith: “That even faith, or a steadfastly believing the truth, arises from a principle . . . Continue reading →

Parachurch or Pastoring (Part 2)

by on May 10, 2022 | 4 Comments

Previously began a discussion about parachurch ministries in relation to the church. The point was to raise a concern about how, frequently, parachurch ministries implicitly, if (perhaps) unintentionally, try to usurp the visible, institutional church’s primary role in God’s plan to save . . . Continue reading →

Reconciling the Divine Processions-Missions Relationship with Confessional Reformed Theology: An Engagement with Adonis Vidu’s The Divine Missions: An Introduction (Part 3)

by on July 7, 2022 | 6 Comments

This series of essays reflects upon Adonis Vidu’s new book about the divine missions to see how we who hold specifically to confessionally Reformed theology can think about and appropriate his arguments. The first post surveyed the book’s contents, and the second . . . Continue reading →

Reconciling the Divine Processions-Missions Relationship with Confessional Reformed Theology: An Engagement with Adonis Vidu’s The Divine Missions: An Introduction (Part 4)

by on July 14, 2022 | 1 Comment

This series considers Adonis Vidu’s new book about relating a classical theology proper to God’s plan of salvation. So far, after surveying the book’s contents, we have thought about the covenant of grace and the nature of salvation concerning how those holding . . . Continue reading →

Twits, Scholars, And Thoughts On Theological Discussion: Thanks To Adonis Vidu

by on August 8, 2022 | 2 Comments

When I finished reading Adonis Vidu’s excellent new book on the divine missions to review it for the Heidelblog, I set a goal to interact with what I found most useful in the book. Rather that using the generic review tactic of . . . Continue reading →

Engaging Confessional Baptists on Covenant Theology (Part 1): Typology

by on September 13, 2022 | 23 Comments

The elephant in the room of any discussion about the development of redemptive history is the disagreement between Baptist and Reformed theologies about the unity of the covenant of grace, including the whole language of the covenant’s substance and administration. Continue reading →

We Are Not Professionals But Ought To Be True Confessionals

by on October 11, 2022 | 1 Comment

I recently wrote a book review about a volume by an author whose works usually prompt me to significant disagreement, but, in this case, whether because of a change of his mind or coincidence of the material, I found that I generally . . . Continue reading →

Review of Brian Brock’s Wondrously Wounded: Theology, Disability, and the Body of Christ

by on October 20, 2022 | 4 Comments

Churches in the modern world must increasingly realize that we have to reckon with difficult issues involving mental wellbeing, disability, and related concerns. As a pastor in London, one of the world’s largest urban centers where there were fewer ways even just . . . Continue reading →

Review: Todd Hains, Martin Luther and the Rule of Faith: Reading God’s Word for God’s People

by on October 27, 2022 | 1 Comment

Not long ago, Reformed circles found it fashionable to criticize those on the other side of our intramural debates as being too Lutheran. If being too Lutheran means thinking anything like Todd Hains and reading Scripture with the care and purpose for . . . Continue reading →

Denunciation, Declaration, And Doxology (1 Tim 1:12–17)

by on October 28, 2022 | 2 Comments

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen Continue reading →

Review: Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church by Michael J. Kruger

by on January 12, 2023

Michael Kruger has written a gem of a book, addressing one of the most prominent issues troubling the church today. Increasingly, we are faced with stories about pastors who misuse their position of authority to achieve their own selfish ends to the . . . Continue reading →

Review: More Than Heaven: A Biblical Theological Argument for a Federal View of Glorification by T. Jeff Taylor

by on July 27, 2023 | 12 Comments

Even Reformed theology has continually grappled with the major question concerning the relationship between good works and our everlasting condition. Even some who reject the idea that our good works contribute to our final entry into glorification have argued that they play . . . Continue reading →

Review: Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and New Testament Biblical Theology by G. K. Beale

by on August 17, 2023 | 5 Comments

G. K. Beale is rightly renowned for his skill at biblical theology, especially tracing the redemptive historical theme of creation-new creation. His work on the temple theme has fairly definitively demonstrated the connections between the creation order and the fundamentally religious orientation . . . Continue reading →