Application in preaching is a thorny issue. There is no real question among Reformed folk whether preachers should apply the text of Scripture to the congregation. Most Reformed preachers agree in substance with William Perkins on application. The basic principle in application . . . Continue reading →
preaching
Calvin: God Gives Us Ministers So As Not To Swallow Us By His Majesty
We have seen heretofore, that Eliu intending to rebuke Job, protested that he himself was a mortal man as Job was, to the end he should not complain that he was handled with too high a power. And so he showed that . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Where Are They Now? How Ted Hamilton Became A Preacher
Perhaps you have seen on television or in the movies successful, wealthy professionals driving, surfing, and generally enjoying what looks like a magical life in Southern California. Television glitz aside, there is some reality to that portrait and one place it is . . . Continue reading →
Preaching As For The Free
One of the privileges of editing the Classic Reformed Theology series for Reformation Heritage Books is that I get to work closely with significant Reformed texts and shepherd them through the process from translation (e.g., from Latin to English) to publication. Currently . . . Continue reading →
A Pulpit Is Not A Platform
A Pulpit Is Not A Platform Since the early 18th century, American Christianity has been dominated by personalities. George Whitefield, the Wesleys, and Jonathan Edwards feature prominently in any narrative of the history of eighteenth-century American Christianity. When we think of the . . . Continue reading →
Resources On The Free Or Well Meant Offer Of The Gospel
The Three Points of Synod Kalamazoo (1924) Common Is Not Neutral (On The Three Points Of Synod Kalamazoo) The Synod of Dort On The Serious And Promiscuous Call Of The Gospel John Murray on the Free Offer of the Gospel Joseph H. . . . Continue reading →
New In Print: Advice To Young Preachers
“Advice to Young Preachers” appears in the Summer issue of Expositor, a publication of Steve Lawson’s OnePassion Ministries.
AGR On The State Of Modern Preaching (1) With W. Robert Godfrey
Scripture says: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, . . . Continue reading →
Canons Of Dort (5): God Ordains Means To Call His Elect
The first thing that the Reformed churches said in response to the Remonstrants, whom the Reformed saw as seeking to take the churches back toward the medieval system of salvation by grace and our cooperation with grace, was, in effect, “we are too sinful to be saved by any other way than by God’s unconditional favor” (sola gratia). The second thing that the Reformed did in response to the Remonstrants was to quote two passages: 1 John 1:9 and John 3:16. Continue reading →
Advice To Young Preachers
Time was that church historians also taught church polity and what is sometimes called pastoral theology. This was, I suppose, because we used to recognize that the study of the history of the practice of the church gives a certain insight into . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 174: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (18): Applying The Analogy To Preaching, Sacraments, Baptism, And Salvation
The argument of the series is that this is Peter’s over-arching picture or paradigm for the way New Covenant believers are to think about their place in the world and about the return of Christ. There will be no literal 1,000 year . . . Continue reading →
What Does A Pastor Do?
This week I was chatting with someone who curiously asked me: “What does a pastor do?” Unsurprisingly, it’s a question I get from people inside and outside of the church. Sometimes it’s asked with a note of interested inquisitiveness, and other times . . . 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 →
Plagiarism Is Not The Only Kind Of Fake Preaching
As the Southern Baptist Convention has been rocked with controversy over plagiarism, it’s easy to think that the extent of the problem is merely repeating someone else’s words. There is another aspect to plagiarism that often gets overlooked: Pulpiteering. Philip Doddridge in . . . Continue reading →
A Possible Answer To Plagiarizing Preachers: In Case Of Emergency Break Glass
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as one’s own and as such it is theft. Continue reading
A Useful Test For Evaluating Sermons And Ministry: If A Sermon May Be Preached In A Mosque Or Synagogue It is Not A Christian Message
Years ago I remember hearing an elder say that if my sermon could be accepted in a Jewish synagogue then it is not a distinctively Christian sermon. I’ve thought a lot about that over the years. What makes Christian sermons distinctively Christian? . . . Continue reading →
Good News: Millennials Like Substantive Sermons
“And younger evangelicals are the ones most likely to want more in-depth teaching from their churches. Evangelicals under 40 are twice as likely as their seniors (39% to 20%) to want more substance from the pulpit.” Continue reading →
Trueman: It Was Not Chrysostom’s Administration Of The Sacraments That Led To HIs Death
Years ago, when teaching at a seminary, I was responsible for the course on the ancient church. In every class I have ever taught, I have regarded it as my chief task to introduce students to the great primary texts on the . . . Continue reading →
New: Resources On Preaching
In a sense everything on this site is intended to help pastors, elders, deacons, and laity better serve Christ but some of the resources are specifically focused on the nature and act of preaching because, in distinction from some traditions, in the . . . Continue reading →
Fascinating Comments From John Owen
Paul Helm is always worth reading, in part, because he is always reading and doing so well. The other day he posted Continue reading