Does The Bible Command It?

In other words, when we are considering the content and conduct of our worship, the biggest question is not “Does the Bible forbid it?” but “Does the Bible command it?” That makes things much simpler because any list of what God forbids . . . Continue reading →

Prelacy And Its Train Extirpated

We cannot but admire the good hand of God in the great things done here already, particularly that the Covenant (the foundation of the whole work) is taken; Prelacy and the whole train thereof extirpated; the Service-book in many places forsaken; plain . . . Continue reading →

Is Missing Church A Sin?

Joe writes, “Is missing church a sin?   Like if my child has a game, if I’m on vacation, or have to work?” Over the years many people have asked me some version of this question. It is an important question, one faced by the New Testament church and by the church in the twenty-first century. Continue reading →

A Sunday Evening Bible Study Is Good But A Second Worship Service Is Better

Romans 10 On The Centrality Of The Official Preaching Of The Gospel

When I first began to become Reformed (c. 1980) I was familiar with the second service because my Southern Baptist congregation had an evening service. Indeed, we had a Wednesday evening service in addition to the Sunday morning service. Oddly, much to . . . Continue reading →

Review: Concise Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Christian Belief. A Revised and Enhanced Edition of Salvation Belongs To The Lord By John M. Frame (Part 1)

This volume was originally published under another title in 2006. It began as a series of lectures given in 2004, and it carries a number of strong endorsements from Reformed and evangelical luminaries, not the least of which is the foreword by . . . Continue reading →

Review: Concise Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Christian Belief. A Revised and Enhanced Edition of Salvation Belongs To The Lord By John M. Frame (Part 2)

We have considered his method, but what about Frame’s theological conclusions? Where the classic Reformed theologians typically defined theology as something that exists in God and which is accommodated to us creatures and revealed in analogues to us, for Frame, theology is . . . Continue reading →

Review: Concise Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Christian Belief. A Revised and Enhanced Edition of Salvation Belongs To The Lord By John M. Frame (Part 3)

There are other, perhaps related questions that arise under this heading. For example, is the logical order of the application of redemption by the Holy Spirit (the ordo salutis) merely a “pedagogical device”? (229) Such a conclusion would surprise all the Protestant . . . Continue reading →