If Christians have often been tempted to mysticism (the quest to meet God without instruments, media, or means) they have also been tempted to magic, tempted to turn the sacraments into things they are not. The medieval Western church taught and the . . . Continue reading →
What if I told you that it’s possible to sing the very songs that Jesus sang in worship? What if I told you that a man recently discovered those very songs? It’s true. Joe Holland, Pastor of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) . . . Continue reading →
Scripture teaches us that prayer is essential for sanctification. In 1Thessalonians 5:16-17 Paul says simply, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, ESV). He doesn’t elaborate. He doesn’t defend his exhortation. He just says it. I take it that, for Paul, . . . Continue reading →
John Calvin is one of the most influential writers in the Reformed tradition, so much so that Richard Muller has argued that, in the modern period, Calvin has been over emphasized to the neglect of the rest of the Reformed tradition. Nevertheless, . . . Continue reading →
Prayer is not as easy as it looks, especially when we are completely confused about those things for which we ought to ask. That was the situation in which the disciples found themselves. When they said to our Lord, “teach us how . . . Continue reading →
After the fall, believers wandered. They were pilgrims, looking for a another city whose builder and maker is God (Heb 11). They were looking for a heavenly city. Under the old, Mosaic covenant, believers were given colorful pictures of heaven and even the . . . Continue reading →
One aspect of our new life in Christ to which modern evangelical and Reformed Christians have not always paid a great deal of attention is the matter of virtue. There are some good reasons for this. The medieval church came to think . . . Continue reading →
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 →
The Westminster Standards are a collection of churchly documents, a confession of faith, and two catechisms drafted by an assembly of pastors and theologians called to meet to provide a confession and catechisms that would unify a nation divided internally by civil . . . Continue reading →
Americans believe in and really like the extraordinary. We speak frequently—and not without some reason—of American exceptionalism. Since the 1720s Evangelical Christianity in America has been dominated by a desire to see and experience the extraordinary whether that be the attempt to . . . Continue reading →
Ours is not an age characterized by wisdom either inside or outside the church. Conferences on wisdom will not likely pack a football stadium (at least not a large one) but wisdom is a major theme in Scripture—terms for wisdom occur more . . . Continue reading →
Foolishness has been a part of the human condition since the fall but it was not that way in the beginning. We were made to be wise by knowing and obeying God. After the fall, by grace alone, through faith alone, we . . . Continue reading →
It’s season 6 and we’re talking about wisdom. Foolishness has been a part of the human condition since the fall but it was not that way in the beginning. We were not made to be fools and it is possible to find . . . Continue reading →
The Book of Psalms was once not only the Songs of Israel but it was also the songbook of the Christian church. One of the parts of the Hebrew Scriptures most frequently quoted in the New Testament is Psalm 110. The early . . . Continue reading →
Abraham is a central figure not only a Genesis and the Old Testament (defined broadly) but in the New Testament as well. God called him from Ur of the Chaldeans, gave him new life, faith in Christ, and through faith alone, imputed . . . Continue reading →
Moses is one of the most important figures in the history of salvation. Scripture refers to an entire epoch of redemptive history as “Moses.” Through him the Lord redeemed his people from Egypt, through the Red Sea, on dry ground. Through him . . . Continue reading →
In 1968 American culture was roiled by a long, increasingly unpopular war in Southeast Asia. It was rocked by massive anti-war protests, the hippie movement, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It was shocked by the assassination of two leading American figures, . . . Continue reading →
The book of Ecclesiastes has often been taken as a counsel of despair, as a non-Christian view of the world. There is an alternative way of reading Ecclesiastes, however. Consider that it is included in God’s Word and thus we regard it . . . Continue reading →
Christians, perhaps American Christians more than most, frequently say that they want pastors and teachers to be “practical.” They say that want to know how to apply the Christian faith to daily life. To that end Christians spend much time and lots . . . Continue reading →
The Apostle Paul was a preacher to the Gentiles, a missionary, a church planter, and ultimately a martyr for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was also a theologian of wisdom. He used the Greek noun for wisdom, sophia, repeatedly. . . . Continue reading →